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THE 

TEMPLE    PULPIT 

A  SELECTION  OF 

SERMONS  AM) , ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED     ON    SPECIAL    OCCASIONS 

BY 

REV.  JAMES  K.  GITHEIM, 

MIHIHTKK    OK  TKMPI.K    KMANU-KI,,  OF    NKW 


NEW  YORK 

JEWISH    TIMES,    11    ANN    STBEKT, 
1872. 


T° 

THE    TEMPLE    EMANU-J!  L, 


AFFECTIONATE    REMEMBRANCE 


DEDICATED 


J 


HE     AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  —Address  delivered  at  the  Laying  of  the  Corner-Stone 

of  the  Temple  Emanu-EI,  New  York,  Oct.  31st,  1866        1 

II. — Inaugural  Sermon  delivered  at  Temple  Emanu-EI, 

Nov.  14th,  1868.    (First  Part.)  13 

I  I. — Inaugural  Sermon  delivered  at  Temple  Emauu-El, 

Nov.  21st,  1868.     (Second  Part.) 22 

IV. — Sermon  delivered  at  the  Consecration  of  the  Temple 
Shaare  Emeth,  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Friday,  August 

27th,  1869 87 

V. — Address  delivered  at  the  Laying  of  the  Corner-Stone 

of  Temple  Sinai  of  New  Orleans,  Novr.~19th,  1871.       51 

VI. — Sermon  delivered  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Temple 
Aliawatb  Chesed  of  New  York,  Friday,  April  19th, 

1872 «« 

VII. — "  The  Spirit  of  God  in  Man,"  a  series  of  our  sermons 
delivered  at  Temple  Emanu-EI,  Sabbat h,  March  2d, 

1872.     1 '. 77 

VIII.—"  The  Spirit  of  God  in  Man. '    Sabbath,  March  16th, 

1872.    2 87 

IX.—"  The  Spirit  of  God  in  Man."     Sabbath,  March  30t!i, 

1872.     3 95 

X.— "The  Spirit  of  God  in  Man."     Sabbath,  April   13th, 

1872.     4 105 

XI. — Oration  del ivered  at  the  Laying  of  the  Corner  Stone 
of  the  Home  for  Jewish  Widows  and  Orphans  of 
Now  Orleann. .  1  Jfi 


VIII 

XII. — Oration  delivered  on  the  Fifth  Anniversary  of  the 
Home  for  Jewish  Widows  and  Orphans  of  New 

Orleans 129 

XIII. — Address  delivered  at  the  Funeral  of  Judah  Touro, 

at  New  Orleans,  La.,  Jan.  20th,  1864 147 

XIV. — Address  delivered  at  the  Funeral  of  Judah  Tou.o, 

at  Newort,  B.  I.,  June  7th,  1854 153 

XV. — Address  delivered  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Tomb  of 
the  Howard  Association  of  New  Orleans,  and  the 
Transfer  of  the  Bemainp  of  its  President,  Victor 
Boullemet,  April  15th,  1860 159 

XVI.  -  Address  delivered  at  the  Funeral  of  Joseph  Fatman, 

at  New  York,  Oct.  10th,  1869 165 

XVII. — Opening  Prayer  delivered  at  the  •  Semi-Centennial 
Anniversary  of  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  and  Orphan 
Asylum  Society  of  New  York,  April  llth,  1872 171 


I. 


ADDRESS, 

Delivered  at  the  Laying  of  the  Corner-Stone 


OF    THE 


TEMPLE  EMANU-EL, 

Cornet'  of  Fifth  Aremte  ami  Forty-Third  Street, 

NEW  YORK, 
i 

October   31st,    1866. 


A  sacred  task  has  been  performed.  The  corner-stone 
of  a  new  house  of  worship  is  laid,  and  numbers  have 
flocked  together  to  witness  this  simple,  though  time 
honored  ceremony,  to  testify  by  their  presence  the  deep 
interest  they  feel  in  the  erection  of  the  projected  edifice. 
Upon  this  foundation  you  have  resolved  to  rear  a  house 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  the  Most  High,  the  Creator 
and  Governor  of  the  Universe,  the  Father  of  all  Alan- 
kind ,  the  Guardian  of  Israel — a  temple  worthy  of  the 
name  you  bear  and  the  religion  you  profess.  With  the 
completion  of  this  edifice,  you  will  possess  a  new  reli- 
gious home,  wherein  to  assemble  "from  new  moon  to 
new  moon,  and  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath,"  in  order  to 
pour  out  the  inmost  feelings  of  your  hearts  in  prayer  and 
in  praise  before  the  Omnipotent  and  all-kind  Ruler  of 
the  Universe. 

The  corner-stone  is  deposited  to  a  structure,    which, 
at  its  completion,  will  be  a  noble  monument  of  a  pious 


enterprise,  a  bright  ornament  to  our  faith  and  to  our 
people,  and  the  just  pride  of  its  founders.  Gradually 
this  temple  will  rise,  assume  its  grand  proportions,  and 
present  to  the  eye  of  the  admiring  beholder  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  master's  finished  design,  of  the  artist's  noble 
conception.  But  not  the  material,  however  costly — nor 
the  house,  however  beautiful — nor  the  decorations,  how- 
ever magnificent,  will  furnish  cause  for  exultation. 
Architectural  symmetry  and  ornamented  walls  are  with- 
out significance,  unless  man  invest  them  with  his  senti- 
ments and  feelings,  his  ideas  and  principles.  The  senti- 
ments with  which,  at  a  future  day,  you  will  enter  the 
portals  of  this  temple  will  constitute  its  intrinsic  orna- 
ment ;  the  feelings  which  inspire  our  hearts  at  this  hour 
render  this  day  and  this  occasion  holy,  solemn  and  joyful. 

Deep  in  the  human  soul  the  Creator  has  laid  a  founda- 
tion for  the  Divine.  In  the  innermost  recesses  of  the 
human  heart  He  has  treasured  up  the  elements  of  the 
holy  and  heavenly,  not  in  a  dim,  dreamlike,  shadowy 
state,  but  illumined  by  a  bright,  self-conscious  intelli- 
gence. They  require  not  the  helping  hand  of  a  skillful 
master  to  be  moulded  into  form  and  expression.  Spon- 
taneously they  burst  forth,  if  not  forcibly  repressed, 
manifest  their  existence  in  the  delight  with  which  we 
contemplate  every  pious  enterprise,  the  joy  with  which 
we  regard  every  noble  achievement,  the  sympathy  which 
we  exhibit  with  every  sacred  cause.  Whatever  is  con- 
ceived in  God,  and  for  the  honor  of  God,  elevates  and 
expands  our  heart ;  whatever  is  accomplished  in  God, 
and  for  the  honor  of  God,  fills  our  soul  with  a  holy  glad 
ness.  For  a  divine  voice  within  us  proclaims  aloud 
31D  DT6x  ra~ip  "  The  striving  for  the  Divine  is  man's 
highest  happiness." 

The  erection  of  a  house  of  worship  is  coeval  with  the 
revelation  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai.  The  tabernacle 


of  Moses  in  the  wilderness  was  consructed  at  the  special 
command  of  God,  in  the  words,  "  And  they  shall  make 
unto  me  a  sanctuary  and  I  will  dwell  among  them," 
(Exod.  xxv.  8.)  This  primitive,  movable  sanctuary  was 
succeeded  by  the  magnificent  stationary  temple  at  Jeru- 
salem, and  that  again  by  the  unpretending,  widely  scat- 
tered synagogues.  For,  although  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
•filleth  the  universe,  although  every  spot  where  we  call 
upon  His  name,  He  has  promised  us  His  blessing,  yet 
in  a  house  specially  dedicated  to  His  holy  name  we  can- 
not fail  to  be  imbued  with  the  Divine,  and  to  rise  to  a 
just  appreciation  of  our  duties  as  men,  of  our  destiny  as 
Israelites.  I  will  dwell  among  you  ;  that  is,  I  will  ani- 
mate you  with  my  spirit — the  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
understanding,  the  spirit  of  counsel  and  strength,  the 
spirit  of  truth  and  love,  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  the 
fear  of  God. 

And  this  spirit  is  the  spirit  of  our  religion,  the  spirit 
of  Judaism.  Tabernacle  and  temple  have  vanished ; 
but  this  spirit  has  survived.  With  our  dispersion,  it 
was  wafted  over  the  habitable  globe,  was  enshrined  in 
every  synagogue.  Neither  the  burning  South,  nor  the 
frigid  North;  neither  the  rod  of  despotism,  nor  the  shafts 
of  persecution,  nor  the  genial  influence  of  liberty  could 
weaken  its  force,  abate  our  constancy,  or  shake  our  faith 
in  the  Holy  One.  We  stand  here  as  the  connecting  link 
of  the  past  and  future,  anxious  to  transmit  to  posterity 
the  sacred  inheritance,  the  heavenly  truths,  the  divine 
oracles  received  from  our  fathers,  on  the  basis  of  which 
the  temple  of  harmony  and  peace,  of  happiness  and  salva- 
tion for  all  mankind,  shall  one  day  be  reared  in  its  lofty 
grandeur. 

The  Jewish  religion  bears  within  itself  the  guarantee 
of  its  perpetuity.  No  incomprehensible  mysteries  con- 
stitute its  groundwork.  It  is  dependent  upon  no  out- 


ward  condition,  coupled  with  no  peculiar  social  or  political 
relations,  but  is  deeply  and  firmly  rooted  in  the  soil 
of  eternal  truth.  No  current  of  history  can  flood  it 
away ;  no  storni  of  events  affect  its  existence ;  no  pro- 
gress of  the  human  race  supersede  its  importance,  over 
shadow  its  growth,  sap  its  foundation  or  impede  its 
development.  It  addresses  itself  directly  to  the  heart 
and  mind  of  man,  and  must  thrive  and  flourish,  wherever 
the  unsophisticated  human  heart  manifests  its  warmth, 
and  the  unprejudiced  human  mind  diffuses  its  light. 
From  the  time  of  Abraham,  our  father,  to  whom  the 
Lord  vouchsafed  the  promise,  "  that  in  his  seed  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  shall  be  blessed ;"  from  the  day  of 
the  solemn  proclamation  on  Sinai,  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy 
God,"  Israel  has  been  the  standard-bearer  of  the  grand 
religious  truth,  which  is  destined,  as  we  believe,  to  com- 
pass the  ultimate  redemption  of  the  whole  human  race. 

The  Jewish  religion  is  founded  upon  three  cardinal 
principles  that  form  its  centre,  and  around  which  all  the 
laws,  commandments,  ordinances  and  principles  are  re- 
volving as  the  planets  do  around  the  sun.  These  are 
the  doctrines  of  God,  of  man,  and  of  the  relations  sub- 
sisting between  God  and  man. 

The  first  of  these  doctrines  teaches  and  enjoins  the 
belief  in  the  absolute  unity  of  God  and  his  universal  do 
minion  and  providence.  In  all  the  sacred  records  of  the 
Bible,  both  historical,  didactical  and  prophetical,  this 
doctrine  is  inculcated  in  language  so  distinct  and  explicit 
as  to  admit  of  no  other  construction,  The  idea  of  a  plu- 
rality in  the  godhead,  of  an  exclusive  national  Deity,  is 
foreign  to  our  belief.  At  the  very  opening  of  Scripture, 
we  are  informed  that  God  created  the  heavens,  the  un- 
limited space  with  its  innumerable  worlds,  and  the  earth, 
upon  which  all  men  are  moving  and  have  their  being. 
We  are  subsequently  told  that  God  made  a  covenant  ot 


peace  and  instituted  the  rainbow  as  the  sign  of  this  cov- 
enant, not  only  with  mankind,  but  with  all  living  crea- 
tures. Abraham  worshipped  God  as  the  Creator  of  heav- 
en and  earth,  as  the  righteous  judge  of  the  whole  earth. 
Moses  announced  the  Deity  in  that  sublime  sentence, 
which  forms  the  essence  and  nucleus  of  our  creed,  "Hear, 
O  Israel !  the  Lord  is  our  God,  the  Lord  is  One  !"  And 
the  lofty  imagination  of  the  psalmists  and  prophets  was 
kindled  and  inspired  by  the  great  truth,  "that  the  Lord 
is  the  God  of  the  Universe,  "  whose  throne  is  the  heaven, 
whose  footstool  the  earth,  whose  rule  and  providence 
extend  to  all  the  sons  of  man,  and  whose  name  is  praised 
from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  its  setting 

This  cardinal  principle,  without  which  no  true  religion 
can  be  conceived,  has  been  cherished  throughout  our  che- 
quered history.  It  is  our  peculiar  mission  to  preserve  it 
in  its  purity,  to  remain  faithful  to  our  trust,  until  to  the 
God  of  the  universe  every  knee  shall  bend  in  adoration, 
and  every  tongue  shall  swear  fealty —  "  on  that  day  the 
Lord  will  be  One  and  His  name  One !" 

The  second  doctrine  concerning  man  is  calculated  to 
sow  the  seeds  of  charity  and  love  in  the  heart  of  every 
true  believer.  It  is  embodied  in  the  words  of  Scrip- 
ture :  "  God  created  man  in  his  own  image.  "  It  consti- 
tutes the  source  from  which  spring  and  the  goal  towards 
which  are  tending,  all  the  efforts  for  the  amelioration  of 
the  human  race.  It  is  the  basis  of  genuine  humanity  and 
philanthropy.  It  teaches  us  that  love  of  man  is  founded 
on  the  grandeur  of  man's  soul,  its  likeness  to  God,  its 
immortality,  its  powers  of  endless  progress  ;  that,  hence, 
it  is  our  duty  to  look  npon  every  man,  to  whatever 
nation  he  may  belong,  whatever  creed  he  may  profess, 
whatever  language  he  may  speak,  as  our  brother.  This 
doctrine  finds  its  practical  application  in  the  divine 
commandment  communicated  through  Moses.  "  Thou 


shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  (Lev.  19,  18).  It  is 
emphatically  enforced  in  the  beautiful  words  of  the  Pro- 
phet Malachi,  (ii.  10),  "  Have  we  not  all  one  Father? 
Hath  not  one  God  created,  us '?  Why,  then  should  we 
deal  treachelously,  one  against  the  other,  to  profane  the 
covenant  of  our  Father  ?"  It  impresses  us  with  the  convic- 
tion, that  love  and  charity  ought  not  to  be  confined  to 
family,  country  or  lineage  ;  that  as  our  heavenly  Father 
causes  the  sun  to  shine  for  the  benefit  of  all,  even  so  our 
religion  teaches,  that  love  and  charity  are  universal 
blessings,  and  should  knit  all  mankind  in  one  sacred 
bond  of  brotherhood. 

The  third  doctrine  is  conveyed  in  the  Scriptural  in. 
junction,  "  You  shall  be  holy,  for  I,  the  Lord  your  God, 
am  holy, "  (  Lev.  19,  2).  This  doctrine  defines  the  rela- 
tion of  man  to  God,  enjoins  purity  of  thought  and  vir- 
tuous actions,  and  prohibits  uncharitableness  and  enmity 
between  man  and  man.  For  every  wrong  that  we  may 
perpetrate,  every  injury  that  we  may  inflict  on  ovir  neigh- 
bor, every  deed  of  violence  that  we  may  execute,  every 
species  of  hatred  and  animosity  that  we  may  cherish  in 
our  bosom,  every  deception,  fraud  or  falsehood,  of  which 
we  may  be  guilty,  in  a  word,  every  unholy  thought, 
desire,  word,  or  action  in  which  we  may  indulge,  alienates 
us  from  God,  obscures  and  blurs  the  innate  holiness  and 
purity  of  our  spiritual  being. 

These  cardinal  "principles,  of  which  I  have  given  the 
merest  outlines,  constitute  the  life  and  soul  of  our  reli- 
gion, are  incarnated  in  its  every  institution.  Times  may 
change  ;  new  systems  of  government  and  sociology  may 
rise  in  the  horizon  of  history ;  the  human  mind,  in  its  lau- 
dable thirst  for  knowledge  and  improvement,  may  conti- 
nue to  dive  into  the  arcana  of  nature,  bring  to  light  new 
and  wonderful  discoveries,  cultivate  the  field  of  art  and 
enlarge  the  empire  of  science  ;  development  and  progress 


in  all  that  concerns  mankind  may  remain  the  watchword 
of  every  age  ;  yet  these  cardinal  doctrines  of  our  religion 
will  remain  truth,  immovable  truth,  for-ever.  They  have 
stood  the  test  of  thousands  of  years,  have  passed  trium- 
phanthly  through  the  various  phases  and  ordeals  of  histo- 
ry, have  been  singularly  active  in  the  successively  modi- 
fied and  progressive  stages  of  civilization,  and  do  this  day, 
and  ever  will,  assert  their  claim  to  universal  recognition. 
But  not  by  force,  nor  by  violence,  but  by  the  spirit  of 
of  the  Lord,  will  it  be  accomplished. 

Judaism  thus  appears  to  us  a  castle  looming  forth  above 
the  ocean  of  time,  standing  as  firm  and  unchanged  as  a 
granite  promontory  in  the  deep,  amidst  the  waves  and 
storms  that  beat  upon  it—  its  entrance  supported  by  two 
imperishable  columns  ;  allegiance  to  God,  the  name  of 
one  ;  good  will  to  man,  the  name  of  the  other.  It  is  the 
shining  beacon  enkindled  by  the  Most  High,  when  it 
pleased  Him  to  make  His  will  known  to  man.  It  is  the 
code  of  peace,  which  teaches  man  to  love  his  neighbor,  to 
relieve  the  distressed,  console  the  afflicted,  succor  the 
needy,  assist  even  the  enemy,  when  he  is  in  need  of  our 
assistance.  It  is  the  true  conception  of  the  great  Creator, 
recognizing  in  Him  alone  our  Father,  our  God,  our  Ruler, 
our  Savior. 

These  principles  constitute  the  spiritual  foundation 
upon  which  this  temple  will  rise  and  be  firmly  planted. 
Whatever  difference  of  opinion  regarding  other  matters 
of  faith  and  practice,  of  speculative  and  formal  religion 
may  exist,  upon  this  solid  basis  every  synagogue  is  estab- 
lished. There  can  be  no  dissent,  no  opposition  from  any 
quarter.  These  principles  form  the  root  and  trunk  of  the 
sublime  tree  of  our  religion,  which  will  find  here  a  fruit- 
ful, genial  soil.  But  whilst  root  and  trunk  have  been  and 
will  be  preserved  in  their  pristine  vigor  and  freshness, 
the  branches  and  boughs,  the  luxuriant  growth  of  many 


—  10  — 

centuries  have  been  carefully  trimmed  and  fashioned,  to 
afford  an  agreeable  and  wholesome  shade  to  the  present 
and  future  generations. 

You  stand  here  as  the  representatives  of  Reform — a 
position  which  you  have  occupied  ever  since  the  organ- 
ization of  your  society.  Your  object,  from  its  very 
inception,  was,  not  to  destroy,  but  to  build  up ;  not  to 
weaken,  but .  to  strengthen  the  pillars  of  our  faith. 
The  great  object  of  Reform,  in  my  apprehension,  is  to 
maintain  religion  by  promoting  progress,  by  spreading 
an  enlightened  understanding  of  our  religious  tenets 
and  institutions,  by  vindicating  them  from  reproach  and 
showing  their  claims  to  universal  respect ;  by  breathing 
into  the  young  a  generous  devotion  to  them ;  to  attract 
the  luke-warm  and  indifferent  by  the  beauty,  appropri- 
ateness, solemnity  and  efficacy  of  our  public  worship. 
For  the  attainment  of  these  great  ends  you  have  labored 
with  an  ardent  zeal,  unflinching  determination  and  un- 
swerving constancy  ;  and  it  must  afford  you  a  holy  satis 
faction  to  contemplate  this  day  the  magnitude  of  your 
strength  and  influence,  and  the  success  that  has  crowned 
your  efforts. 

This  corner-stone  is  an  enduring  testimony  to  the 
great  results  you  have  achieved.  Next  to  the  favor  of 
Israel's  God,  to  whose  honor  and  glory  you  have  offered 
your  willing  sacrifices  in  the  prosecution  of  this  holy 
work,  your  success  is  mainly  owing  to  that  harmony  of 
sentiment  and  feeling,  that  concert  of  purpose  and  action 
which  ever  animated  your  ranks.  The  heaving  agitation 
perceptible  in  many  a  congregation  of  Israel,  arising 
from  a  struggle  of  old  and  new  elements,  of  stability 
and  progress,  of  the  impossibility  of  getting  repose  by 
keeping  things  as  they  are ;  the  jarring  strife  and  dis- 
sension which  divide  many  a  Jewish  congregation 
against  itself,  until  the  old  and  new  have  had  time  to 


—  11  — 

adjust  themselves  to  one  another,  or  to  merge  their  con- 
flicting views,  wishes  and  aspirations  into  a  painfully 
devised  compromise :  this  unhappy  state  of  things  is 
unknown  to  you.  Peace  and  harmony  constituted  the 
banner  under  which  you  organized,  under  which  you  ad- 
vanced ;  and,  under  this  banner,  you  will  continue  to 
flourish  and  prosper. 

But  a  short  time  will  elapse  when  you  will  enjoy  the 
reward  of  your  sacrifices,  the  realization  of  your  hopes, 
the  fruition  of  your  pious  longings.  In  my  mind's  eye, 
I  behold  the  sacred,  noble  pile  raised  aloft  on  this  foun- 
dation in  its  beauty  and  grandeur — the  temple  erected 
in  honor  of  the  God  of  Israel,  and  dedicated  to  His 
holy  name  and  service.  Its  portals  are  opened,  and  a 
pious  throng  are  assembled  within  its  walls.  Pulpit? 
desk  and  choir  combine  to  render  the  religious  exercises 
solemn  and  edifying ;  to  engage  the  heart  and  the  mind 
of  devout  worshippers ;  to  create  the  temple,  what  it  is 
designed  and  destined  to  be,  into  a  fountain  of  great 
and  blessed  influence.  And  as  strangers  from  all  parts 
will  come  hither  and  behold  your  fervent  zeal,  devout, 
worship,  your  steady,  intelligent  piety,  your  warm  open- 
hearted  benevolence,  they  will  go  from  you  as  the  ancient 
Israelite  left  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  bearing  with  him 
impressions  of  God's  majesty  to  the  farthest  part  of  his 
beloved  land. 


II. 
INAUGURAL  SERMON 

DELIVERED  AT 

TEMPLE    EMAN-IJ-EL 
Sabbath,  Nov.  14th,   1868. 


FIRST  PART. 


"  Unto  man  belong  the  resolves  of  the  heart, 
but  from  the  Lord  cometh  the  expres- 
sion of  the  tongue"  Prov.  XVI.  1. 

IT  ia  with  a  feeling  of  deep  anxiety  that  I  appear  before 
you  this  day — that  I  begin  to  speak.  I  stand  here 
in  response  to  your  call.  The  resolves  of  my  heart 
prompt  me  to  speak;  but  will  the  expression  of  my 
tongue  present  to  you  a  faithful  picture  of  the  senti- 
ments and  feelings  that  animate  my  soul  in  this  hour  ? 
Will  my  voice  be  heard  in  this  lofty,  magnificent  tem- 
ple of  the  Lord  ?  Will  my  wordsfyi  upon  the  attentive 
ears  of  this  numerous  congrega^n  assembled  before 
me  ?  Will  the  sentiments  I  am  about  to  utter  touch  a 
responsive  chord  in  your  hearts  ?  Will  my  effort  have 
a  trace  of  that  scholarly  finish  and  logical  acumen,  which 
characterize  the  performances  of  my  worthy  colleague, 
the  learned  and  justly  revered  rabbi  of  this  congrega- 
tion, with  whom  it  will  henceforth  be  my  privilege  to 
share  this  pulpit?  In  a  word,  shall  I  be  able  to  realize, 
in  a  reasonable  measure,  the  expectations  based  on  my 
election  to  this  responsible  position  ? 


—  16  — 

I  consult  my  heart,  and  its  resolves  give  a  cheering, 
encouraging  reply.  I  look  up  prayerfully  to  my  God  ;  I 
put  my  firm  trust  in  Him,  whose  kind  providence  has 
thus  far  guided  and  sustained  my  steps,  that  he  may 
grant  me  the  apposite  expression  of  the  tongue,  so  as  to 
render  my  ministrations  a  blissml  agency  in  the  promo- 
tion of  truth,  light,  and  love.  I  lastly  address  myself  to 
you,  my  beloved  congregation,  with  the  earnest  entreaty 
and  the  firm  hope,  that  my  feeble  voice  be  a  welcome 
sound  to  your  ears,  and  my  words,  coming  from  the 
heart,  find  a  ready  entrance  into  your  hearts. 

The  office  of  minister  is  surrounded  with  many  difficul- 
ties ;  it  imposes  a  great  responsibility.  Impossible  as  it 
is  in  any  situation  of  life,  and  more  especially  in  any 
public  position,  to  please  everybody,  it  must  neverthe- 
less be  the  minister's  duty  to  secure  the  approbation  of 
the  congregation,  while  at  the  same  time  no  earthly  con- 
sideration should  induce  him  to  swerve  from  the  path  of 
truth,  or  to  act  contrary  to  his  conscience  and  inward 
conviction.  Let  us,  then,  in  this  hour  of  devotion  inquire, 
"  How  can  the  religious  teacher  in  Israel  best  promote 
the  end  of  his  mission  ;  how  he  is  to  act  in  order  that  his 
labors  may  prove  successful,  and  be  deserving  of  the  bless- 
ing of  God  ?" 

The  answer  is  simple  and  comprehensive.  Truth 
light,  and  love  must  iff  exemplified  in  his  teachings  and 
in  his  actions. 

Truth  is  one  of  the  most  precious  gifts,  with  which  man 
was  endowed  by  his  Creator,  Being  a  divine  attribute, 
it  assigns  to  him  so  exalted  a  position  as  to  justify  the 
words  of  the  psalmist,  "  Thou  hast  made  him  a  little  less 
thaa  angels  !"  Its  transcendant  quality  has  been  best  ap- 
preciated by  our  learned  fathers,  for  they  say  "  The  seal 
of  God  is  truth."  Its  influence  on  the  mind  has  been 
well  weighed,  when  they  indited  the  beautiful  admonition, 


—  17  — 

"  Man  should  ever  fear  God  in  private,  confess  the  truth, 
and  speak  truth  in  his  heart."  Why,  then,  should  not 
all  of  us,  why  should  not,  in  particular,  the  servant  iii 
the  sanctuary  of  God  live  and  act  in  truth  ? 

But  what  is  truth,  in  this  application  of  the  term  ? 
Truth  is  the  correspondence  of  our  thoughts  and  inner- 
most convictions  with  our  words  and  actions — a  cor- 
respondence so  precise  and  distinct,  that  not  a  diverging 
line  should  be  perceptible  to  our  mind.  And  it  is  only 
while  thus  living  in  truth  that  our  labors  will  be  truly 
blessed.  Whoever  can  rise  on  the  wings  of  the  mind 
above  the  cloudy  region  of  human  error  to  the  sunny 
heights  of  pure,  untramelled  thought,  must  certainly  ac- 
knowledge, that  truth  alone  imparts  to  man  true  dignity, 
as  also  heavenly  bliss.  But  to  be,  truthful,  truthful  in 
everything,  truthful  towards  every  one,  is  a  problem  the 
solution  of  which  is  attended  with  great  difficulty. 
Thousands  are  prostrated  by  the  trammels  of  supersti- 
tion, the  fetters  of  pride,  the  chains  of  ambition,  the  pres- 
sure of  the  passions,  the  mighty  weight  of  gold.  Truth 
alone  is  exalted  above  all  degrading  passions  and  human 
vanities  ;  truth  alone  reconciles  all  differences,  surmounts 
all  obstacles.  Is  it,  then,  saying  too  much,  that  the  en- 
tire life  of  him  must  be  truth,  whose  office  and  duty  it  is 
to  expound  and  disseminate  the  kjp  of  truth,  given  by 
the  God  of  truth  ? 

It  is,  therefore,  an  indispensable  qualification  of  the 
preacher  to  be  a  sincere  friend  of  truth.  In  whatever 
circumstances  he  may  be  placed,  whatever  the  conse- 
'  quences  resulting  to  him  from  his  action,  nothing  must 
deter  him  from  paying  due  homage  to  truth.  No  pre- 
conceived opinion,  no  prejudice,  no  self-love,  no  interest 
of  any  kind  must  bias  his  mind  and  sway  his  judgment. 
As  a  sincere  friend  of  truth,  he  must  strive  with  an  ardent 
zeal  to  find  it.  The  more  conflicting  the  opinions  on 

2 


—  18  — 

religious  subjects  have  become  in  our  day,  the  more 
calmly  and  deliberately  must  he  search,  in  order  to  be 
able,  correctly  to  distinguish  between  the  true  and  the 
false.  And  this  zeal  must  animate  him  so  powerfully 
and  completely,  that  it  only  ceases  with  the  last  breath 
he  draws  on  earth.  It  is  not  enough  for  him  to  blindly 
accept  whatever  tradition  has  handed  down,  whatever 
custom  has  sanctioned,  and  to  answer  every  query  pro- 
pounded to  him  by  the  authoiitative,  falacious  dictum, 
"  Whatever  is,  is  right !"  Far  from  it.  His  conviction 
must  be  the  result  of  careful  assiduous  study.  He  must 
be  able  to  trace  effects  to  their  legitimate  causes,  to 
separate  the  form  from  the  substance,  the  essential  from 
the  incidental,  the  immutable  from  the  temporal  and 
local.  If  any  one  Stands  in  need  of  a  thorough,  well- 
grounded,  immovable  conviction,  it  is  undoubtedly  the 
religious  teacher,  whose  pi-ovince  it  is  to  satisfy  the  in- 
quirer and  to  convince  the  doubting  and  wavering.  He 
cannot  successfully  leach  the  truth  by  hollow  phrases ; 
his  words  must  be  the  mirror  of  his  soul. 

And  in  harmony  with  his  teaching  should  be  his  life 
and  actions.  In  the  circle,  in  which  he  moves,  his  deport- 
ment must  be  open,  candid,  bearing  the  stamp  of  truth. 
While,  on  the  one  hand,  he  is  often  obliged,  from  the 
peculiar  circumstance*  in  which  he  may  be  placed,  and 
for  the  sake  of  the  cause  in  which  he  is  engaged,  to  act 
with  wise  moderation,  caution  and  pmdence,  he  must 
never,  on  the  other  hand,  from  any  motive  whatsoever, 
so  far  forget  himself  as  to  stoop  to  base  hypocrisy, 
and  allow  his  actions  to  belie  his  inward  conviction. 
In  order  to  be  trusted,  he  must  be  truthful  in  all  the  re- 
lations of  life.  No  timidity,  no  fear,  no  prospect  of 
reward  must  ever  determine  him  to  misrepresent  truth 
by  his  words  or  actions.  And  should  he  even  meet  with 
opposition,  should  he  even  be  misrepresented,  calumniated 


and  persecuted,  he  must  not  swerve  from  his  purpose. 
The  consciousness  of  having  acted  according  to  duty  and 
conscience  is  ample  reward.  "  Truth  will  conquer  its 
way." 

But  how  often  do  short-sighted  mortals  mistake  error  for 
truth,  and  pronounce  firmness  a  visionary  idea.  Has  not, 
for  the  last  1,800  years,  'our  truthful  religion  been  de. 
cried  as  an  exploded  system,  and  our  faithful  adherence 
to  it  been  styled  blinded*  stubborness  ?  Well,  then,  we 
want  some  auxiliary  to  arrive  at  the  clear  truth.  "  Light 
shall  prevail !"  Can  you  conceive  anything  in  nature 
more  beneficial  and  grand  than  light  ?  In  our  daily 
prayers  we  praise  the  Creator  of  light ;  every  being  joy- 
fully greets  the  light ;  the  first  manifestation  of  the  crea- 
tive power  of  the  Lord  of  the  universe  is — light.  Who  does 
not  feel  a  holy  sensation  filling  his  bosom,  whenever  he 
reads  the  words  in  the  first  paragraph  of  Holy  Writ : 
"  The/e  was  light."  The  blessings  of  light  are  incal- 
culable ;  they  are  divine.  And  here  I  do  not  merely 
speak  of  the  material  light  that  invests  every  visible 
object  with  form  and  outline  ;  I  refer  more  particularly  to 
that  spiritual  light,  which  the  Almighty  has  vouchsafed 
to  bestow  on  those  he  created  in  his  own  image  :  namely, 
the  light  of  reason  and  religion.  "  For  the  command- 
ment is  a  lamp,  and  the  law  is  light !"  "  The  soul  of 
man  is  a  lamp  of  the  Lord."  Religion  and  reason  com- 
bined form  the  spiritual  light  in  man.  It  is  true  that  he 
who  never  saw  the  light  of  day  from  his  birth,  or  who 
was,  by  some  misfortune,  deprived  of  his  sight  at  a  later 
period,  may,  nevertheless,  not  altogether  pass  his  days 
without  joy  or  delight.  Hut  can  he  behold  the  splendor 
of  the  sun,  the  moon's  silvery  beams,  the  sparkling  bril- 
liancy of  the  stars?  Does  the  azure  sky,  the  mountain's 
grand  scenery,  the  verdure  of  the  forest,  the  meadow's 
variegated  lints,  the  waving  harvests  of  the  field  open 


—  20  — 

to  him  an  enchanting  vista  ?  Is  he  able  to  view  the  mil- 
lions of  charms  so  profusely  displayed  by  nature  and 
art  ?  Can  he  look  upon  those  who  gave  him  birth  and 
nursed  and  reared  him,  on  the  brother,  the  sister,  and 
friend  to  whom  he  is  warmly  attached  ?  Alas,  no ! 
Life's  highest  enjoyments,  life's  sweetest  joys  are  denied 
him.  And  so,  too,  may  he  whose  mental  eye  is  over- 
clouded and  darkened  by  superstition  and  irreligion, 
who  cannot  see  the  sun  of  truth,  not  live  altogether  with- 
out joy  or  delight.  But  to  appreciate  properly  and  truly 
the  mysterious  workings  of  Providence,  the  destiny  of 
man,  the  blissful  emotions  engendered  by  virtue,  the  in- 
valuable blessing  of  Revelation,  the  humanizing  effect 
of  the  faith  in  the  absolute  unity  of  God,  and  how  re- 
fined and  ennobled  all  mental  culture  is  rendered,  if 
joined  to  true  religion,  based  on  firm  conviction — can  he 
appreciate  all  this  ?  Alas,  no  !  These  pure,  spiritual  en- 
joyments are  utterly  lost  to  him. 

Well,  then,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  preacher  in  Israel  to 
diffuse  light,  to  impart  clear  information,  and  wherever 
the  clouds  of  error  and  prejudice  cover  the  mental  vision 
to  dispel  them  by  the  expression  of  his  tongue.  His 
teaching  must  be  an  emanation  from,  and  in  strict  ac- 
cordance with,  the  word  of  God.  He  is  to  fan  the  glim- 
mering embers  into  a  blaze,  casting  about  a  refulgent 
light.  When  Moses,  the  man  of  God,  besought  the  Al- 
mighty "to  let  him  see  his  glory;"  when  David,  the 
pious  king,  sang  "  May  the  Lord  let  his  countenance 
shine  upon  us" — when  Solomon  prayed  that  God  might 
endow  him  with  wisdom — what  else  did  they  desire  but 
luminous  knowledge?  What  else  did  all  the  God-in- 
spired men,  the  prophets  of  old,  endeavor  to  diffuse 
among  the  people,  when  they  attacked  the  idolatry  and 
superstition  and  denounced  the  mere  form-and  lip-ser- 
vice of  their  age,  but  the  spread  of  luminous  knowledge  ? 


—  21   — 

Such  is  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  our  creed,  that  no 
blind  belief  is  enjoined  on  the  Israelite,  but  that  he  is 
commanded  emphatically,  to  know  the  doctrines  and  prin 
ciples  of  his  faith,  since  to  know  is  to  believe.  Those 
mystical  incongruities  and  absurdities  requiring  implicit 
belief,  which  we  meet  elsewhere,  are  in  no  manner  or  way 
interwoven  in  our  creed.  "  Thou  shalt  know  the  Lord 
*thy  God,"  is  a  commandment  we  find  on  almost  every 
page  of  Scripture,  where  His  existence  and  providence 
are  adverted  to.  "  Thou  shalt  meditate  in  the  law,  and 
teach  it  diligently  to  thy  children,"  is  enjoined  with  the 
like  urgency.  And  if  we  examine  the  history  of  our 
fathers,  of  those  times,  especially,  which  are  commonly 
denominated  the  dark  ages,  we  shall  find  that,  although 
the  Israelite  was  shut  out,  as  it  were,  from  the  light 
of  the  world,  his  obscure  abode  was  illumined  by  the 
light  of  the  Law.  It  was  to  him  a  source  of  consolation, 
of  sweet  enjoyment,  while  it  kept  alive  in  his  bosom  a 
hope  of  better  days.  If  such  was  the  practice  of  our 
fathers  in  adversity,  shall  we  pursue  an  opposite  course 
in  our  days  of  prospei  ty  ?  Is  it  not,  on  the  contrary,  our 
duty  to  obtain  a  clear  knowledge  of  the  essence  and 
spirit  of  our  holy  religion,  and  be  thus  enabled  to  vindi- 
cate the  purity  and  sublimity  of  its  doctrines  before  the 
eyes  of  the  world  ?  To  awaken,  therefore,  and  foster  the 
spirit  of  inquiry,  and  a  fervent  yearning  towards  reli- 
gious light,  in  the  temple  as  well  as  in  the  school,  is  a 
sacred  duty  devolving  upon  the  religious  teacher. 

Truth  often  produces  a  harsh  effect.  Light  often 
leaves  us  cold.  It  is  for  this  that  mildness  must  be 
coupled  with  truth,  that  warmth  was  associated  with  the 
light.  Both,  therfore,  will  assert  their  beauty,  efficiency 
and  supremacy,  if  joined  by  love.  Love  is  one  of  the 
cardinal  principles  of  all  true  religion.  It  is  the  mighty 
link  and  tenure  by  which  society  is  held  together,  the 


—  22  — 

animating  principle  of  the  human  heart.  Before  its  salu- 
tary rays  the  differences  of  creed  and  opinion,  the  inequal-< 
ities  of  fortune  and  position,  vanish  into  air.  The  ties  of 
family,  friendship,  connection,  are  woven  and  sustained 
under  its  heavenly  influence.  Love  constitutes  the  very 
foundation  of  our  religion,  the  living  principle  of  the 
whole  structure.  Hence,  the  third  requisite  of  the  reli- 
gious teacher  is,  that  his  words  must  breathe  the  spirit 
of  love.  It  is  true  that,  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties 
of  his  calling,  the  preacher  is  often  called  upon  to  ad- 
monish and  warn.  But  the  expression  of  his  tongue, 
although  characterized  by  all  the  zeal  and  energy  he  is 
capable  of,  ought  never  to  merge  into  scathing  rebuke 
and  denunciation.  Whenever  a  son  or  daughter  of  Israel 
has  fallen  into  sin,  whenever  in  an  unfortunate  moment 
worldly  considerations  or  passions  gained  the  mastery,  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  religious  teacher "  to  recall  the  erring 
by  mild  admonition,  wise  moderation  and  gentle  per- 
suasion. "  Love  covereth  all  transgressions,"  is  the 
beautiful  maxim  oi  the  wise  king.  I  would  expatiate 
still  more  at  length  on  the  duties  of  the  minister,  and  the 
relation  he  bears  to  his  congregation,  were  it  not  that  I 
intend  to  resume  this  subject  on  Sabbath  next.  Enough 
however,  has  been  said  to  show  that  his  calling  is  a  dim- 
cult  one,  difficult  on  account  of  the  momentous  problem 
he  is  to  solve  —to  do  justice  to  his  religion,  to  his  con- 
viction, to  his  God  and  his  congregation.  But  he  is  sure 
to  succeed,  his  labors  are  sure  to  be  blessed,  if  he  is  act- 
uated by  truth,  guided  by  light,  prompted  by  love. 

My  friends,  during  the  course  of  my  ministerial  career 
it  has  been  my  happy  lot,  to  know  something  of  the  reci- 
procal affection  which  is  calculated  to  steel  our  energies 
for  renewed  and  vigorous  efforts.  My  late  sphere  of  ac- 
tion, far  away  in  the  sunny  South,  with  all  the  cherished 
reminiscences  of  tokens  of  sincere  love  and  tender  solici- 


—  23  — 

tude  extended  to  me  and  mine,  is,  at  this  solemn  moment, 
fresh  and  vivid  in  my  mind.  The  pain  of  recent  separa- 
tion has  revealed  the  power  of  these  affectionate  liga- 
ments, and  memory  shall  never  cease  to  recall  the  images 
of  my  dear  friends  left  behind  me,  whose  warm  attach- 
ment and  esteem  I  had  secured,  who,  for  a  number  of 
years,  were  my  colaborers  in  the  cause  of  religion, 
oharity,  and  progress.  To-day  I  have  performed  my 
first  duty  in  your  midst.  If  we  are  permitted  to  walk 
together  as  minister  and  congregation,  need  I  assure  you 
that  your  affection,  your  hearty  esteem,  will  neither  be 
unprized  nor  um'eciprocated.  Let  me  indulge  the  sweet 
hope,  that  I  am  addressing  the  members  of  a  new  con- 
gregation who,  without  exception,  extend  to  me  their 
right  hand  of  welcome  and  fellowship.  Next  to  the 
Divine  approbation  and  that  of  my  own  conscience,  I 
covet  the  sincere,  intelligent,  and  just  affection  of  my 
congregation.  Without  this  my  usefulness  here  will  be 
a  failure  ;  with  it,  it  will  go  on  increasing  till  death  or 
God's  providence  in  other  ways  parts  us.  May,  then, 
truth,  light,  and  love  characterize  our  intercourse,  m;iy 
our  connection  be  based  on  mutual  confidence  and  es- 
teem, and  it  will  redound  to  our  salvation,  to  the  con- 
solidation of  healthful  progress  and  reform,  to  the  glory 
oi  God  and  his  everlasting  covenant. 

Almighty  and  most  merciful  God  !  Great  is  Thy  name 
in  the  universe,  and  Thou  art  kind  to  all  Thine  creatures. 
From  the  distance  Thou  didst  call  me,  from  obcsurity 
Thou  didst  lead  me  forth,  that  I  might  relate  Thy  won- 
ders in  this  house  dedicated  to  Thy  holy  name  ;  that  I 
might  proclaim  Thy  will  to  those  who  seek  Thee  in  truth. 
Grant  me  strength,  O  Father,  to  execute  the  mission  on 
which  I  am  sent,  that  I  may  not  be  ashamed  through  my 
errors,  nor  my  congregation  be  ashamed  through  inc. 
Guide  and  teach  me,  O  God,  and  bless  my  ministration 


—  24   — 

with  Thy  divine  blessing.  May  error  vanish  and  truth 
prevail!  May  the  hearts  of  those,  who  are  now  exclu- 
sively bent  on  worldly  objects,  turn  to  Thee  in  sincerity 
and  truth.  May  thy  blessing  rest  on  this  congregation, 
so  that  prosperity,  godliness  and  piety  mark  its  onward 
career  ;  may  this  temple  prove  a  fountain  of  ever  increas- 
ing truth,  light  and  love.  Guide  us  all  in  Thy  goodness, 
for  Thou  art  the  God  of  our  salvation,  and  in  Thee  we 
hope  and  trust.  Amen. 


III. 
INAUGURAL  SERMON 

DELIVERED  AT 

TEMPLE    EMANU-EL 
Sabbath,  Nov.  21st,   1868. 

SECOND  PART. 


"  lie  that  reflecteth  on  a  matter  wisely 
will  find  happiness;  and  whoso  trusteth 
in  the  Lord — happiness  attend  him.  " 
Pro.  xvi  20. 

YrEIiY  relation  of  life  has  its  peculiar  duties  ;  every 
new  engagement,  which  we  contract,  "involves  new 
obligations.  The  right  to  demand  on  the  one  hand 
implies  the  duty  to  perform  on  the  other,  and  a  clear 
knowledge  of  our  respective  rights  and  duties  is  a  pre- 
requisite to  establish  a  good  understanding  and  har- 
monius  action.  This  rule  holds  good,  whether  we  apply 
it  to  the  general  social  compact  or  to  special  relations 
that  are  entered  into  by  individuals  or  corporations. 

In  entering,  therefore,  on  the  duties  of  my  office  as 
English  minister  of  this  congregation,  you  will  bear  with 
me,  if  I  endeavor  to  establish  a  clear  understanding 
with  regard  to  our  relative  positions,  duties  and  expec- 
tations. The  spirit  of  inquiry  has  penetrated  every 
department  of  life,  and  the  objects  arid  ends  of  every 
profession  and  pursuit  are  weighed  and  scrutinized.  The 
ministerial  calling  is  not  exempt  from  this  scrutinity,  nor 


—  28  — 

does  it  claim  such  exemption.  Its  high  purposes  justify 
its  existence.  The  interests  it  represents,  it  is  true,  are 
not  comprised  in  the  utilitarian  tendency  of  the  age;  yet 
are  these  interests  the  most  important  and  the  most 
sacred  within  the  range  of  human  feelings,  thoughts  and 
aspirations.  How  dreary  a  solitude  would  life  be  with- 
out the  light  of  revelation,  without  the  conscious- 
ness of  an  ever-watchful  Providence  above  us,  without 
the  hope  of  an  endless  hereafter  !  Through  what 
a  labyrinth  of  perplexities  and  contradictions  touching 
his  origin  and  destiny  would  man  have  to  grope  his  way, 
if  he  do  not  possess  a  sure  guide  in  the  revealed  Word  of 
God!  And  in  order  to  secure  the  blessings  of  our 
heaven-born  religion  to  ourselves  and  posterity,  congre- 
gations are  formed,  temples  and  synagogues  erected, 
religious  schools  organized,  teachers  and  ministers  ap- 
pointed. No  Israelite,  who  has  the  interests  of  his  religion 
at  heart,  can  be  indifferent  to  these  institutions  and 
appointments.  He  will  promote  the  prosperity  of  the 
first  and  facilitate  the  efficiency  of  the  latter.  Hence 
the  question  will  naturally  arise,  what  are  the  relations 
subsisting  between  a  congregation  and  its  minister  ? 
What  are  the  mutual  expectations,  which  each  party  is 
justly  entitled  to  cherish  ? 

The  relation  subsisting  between  the  minister  and  his 
congregation  creates  reciprocal  obligations.  The  minister 
has  his  duties,  most  urgent,  most  important,  unceasing. 
But  while  this  is  true  on  the  one  side,  it  is  not  less  true 
on  the  other,  that  the  congregation,  by  the  election  of  a 
minister  and  the  enjoyment  of  his  services,  bring  them- 
selves Under  corresponding  responsibilities  to  him,  to 
their  religion  and  their  God.  Your  election  of  a  minister 
is  on  your  part  a  purely  voluntary  act.  But  when  it  is 
done,  while  that  relation  subsists,  while  he  continues 
faithful  to  hia  work,  you  cannot  refuse  to  discharge  the 


—  29  — 

duties  to  which  it  gives  rise,  without  guilt  and  dishonor. 
You  will  bear  with  me,  then,  to-day,  if  I  should  speak  to 
you  of  some  things,  which  have  direct  reference  to  my- 
self and  to  my  future  ministry  among  you.  Much  as 
we  anticipate  from  that  attachment,  so  happily  com- 
menced between  us,  it  will  not  prejudice"  our  mutual 
confidence,  it  will  facilitate  our  future  intercourse,  and 
lay  a  broader  basis  for  harmonious  action  hereafter,  if 
at  the  outset  of  our  connection  we  understand  each  other 
and  loock  calmly  and  steadily  at  the  duties,  which  we 
are  bound  reciprocally  to  perform. 

In  my  last  sermon  I  defined,  in  general  terms,  the 
course  to  be  followed  by  the  minister.  He  should  be 
actuated  by  truth,  guided  by  light,  prompted  by  love. 
And  it  is  necessary  that  his  course  should  be  thus  truth- 
ful, clear  and  conciliatory,  since  the  difficulties  he  is 
likely  to  encounter  are  of  no  ordinary  character.  Let 
us  not  disguise  the  fact,  that  with  all  the  progress 
thus  far  achieved,  things  are  yet  in  a  state  of  transition, . 
in  the  process  of  development.  Although  the  congrega- 
tion, in  its  aggregate  capacity,  is  bound  by  the  holiest 
ties — those  of  common  lineage  and  religion, — and  has 
united  for  a  common  object,  that  of,  worshipping  the 
God  of  Israel  according  to  the  true  spirit  and  intent  of 
our  holy  religion;  yet  from  the  periodical  accretion  of 
new  members,  as  well  as  from  other  obvious  causes,  it 
cannot  fail,  that  some  time  must  yet  elapse,  before  the 
diversified  opinions,  habits,  customs,  predispositions, 
predilections  of  the  individual  members  will  be  blended, 
so  as  to  present  a  peifectly  harmonious  aspect  in  all 
matters  appertaining  to  the  worship  and  discipline  of  the 
temple  and  the  religious  practice  in  life.  To  persist  in 
bringing  about  this  happy  consummation,  to  render  the 
Temple  the  focus  of  religious  light  that  is  to  radiate  on 
every  side,  is  the  legitimate  province  of  the  minister. 


—  30  — 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  duty  on  the  part  of  the  con- 
gregation, in  order  to  establish  a  perfect  understanding, 
to  cultivate  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  minister. 
They  should  seek  and  offer  opportunities  to  know,  as 
well  as  to  become  known  to  him.  Mutual  knowledge  of 
of  each  other  will  lead  to  mutual  esteem  (if,  indeed,  such 
be  at  all  deserving).  Mutual  knowledge,  while  it  may 
reveal  imperfections,  will  yet  bring  out  into  more  strik- 
ing light  the  predominant  good  feeling;  it  will  enable 
him  to  adapt  his  instructions  more  perfectly  to  your 
character  and  understanding,  and  prepare  you  to  listen 
with  more  profound  attention  to  the  truths  he  may  utter. 
Do  not  look  upon  him  as  if  he  were  a  spy  upon  your 
conduct;  as  if  his  business  were  solely  that  of  finding 
fault  with  your  lives;  as  if  he  were  a  monk  looking  out 
of  his  sepulchral  den  with  a  green  eye  upon  all  the  things 
you  hold  most  dear.  He  is  a  man  like  yourselves;  of  the 
same  social  affections;  the  same  intellectual  perceptions 
of  all  that  is  beautiful  in  the  world  around  us;  of  the 
same  general  infirmities  incident  to  human  nature.  Do 
not  treat  him,  therefore,  with  a  distant  respect,  with  the 
cold  politeness  of  ceremony,  as  one  whom  you  are  to 
meet  only  on  state  occasions,  but  as  one  who  is  to  be ' 
with  you,  a  sympathizing  friend  in  scenes  of  trial  and  of 
joy,  the  most  thrilling  and  affecting  this  side  of  the  grave. 

The  Jewish  ministry  does  not  constitute  a  peculiar 
order  or  privileged  class  of  men.  Its  members  have  no 
other  authority  but  that  of  the  law,  no  power  but  that 
of  truth,  no  influence  but  that  of  light  and  love.  The 
time  has  happily  passed,  when  obedience  was  enforced 
by  anathema  and  excommunication.  The  bonds  which 
now  unite  congregation  and  minister  are  :  mutual  con- 
fidence and  esteem.  And  whenever  these  are  wanting, 
the  connection  becomes  irksome  and  fails  in  producing 
any  good  results. 


—  31  — 

As  a  congregation  it  is,  further,  your  duty  to  be  in 
prompt  attendance  at  the  stated  times  of  divine  service. 
This  sanctuary — a  speaking  monument  of  your  pious  zeal 
and  sacred  munificence,  an  object  of  pride  and  glory  to 
to  the  Jewish  name — this  sanctuary  is  to  be  your  re- 
ligious home  as  well  as  that  of  your  minister.  It  would 
be  disheartening  indeed,  if  the  devout  attendants  at  the 
temple  should  consist  of  a  small  minority,  while  the 
principal  part  of  the  congregation  were  to  keep  aloof. 
Justly  could  he  complain  :  "  Why  did  I  come  when  there 
is  irt)  man;  why  was  I  called,  when  there  is  none  to 
answer?"  And  when  he  comes  forth,  after  days  of  mental 
toil,  with  his  message  addressed  to  you,  it  is  neither 
honorable  in  you  nor  profitable  for  either,  fb  find  you 
absent.  The  idea  of  so  much  salary  for  so  much  labor, 
and  when  both  parties  have  fulfilled  that  part  of  the 
contract,  it  is  no  farther  matter,  what  course  they  pur- 
sue, is  infinitely  degrading  to  the  mind  that  entertains 
it,  while  its  influence  disheartens  and  paralyzes  the  faith- 
ful servant  of  God.  If,  according  to  your  expressed 
desire  and  solemn  stipulation,  your  minister  is  bound  to 
preach  to  you  and  to  your  children  the  word  of  God  in 
the  vernacular  of  the  land ;  if  the  whole  design,  for 
which  he  has  relinquished  a  field  endeared  to  him  by 
many  tender  and  holy  associations,  was  to  gain  a  larger 
sphere  of  usefulness — then  neither  honor  nor  honesty, 
neither  religion  nor  an  elevated  morality,  can  be  satisfied 
with  the  mere  payment  of  money  on  your  part,  while 
yon  do  not  come  regularly  to  offer  your  worship  to  our 
Heavenly  Father,  and  to  hear  the  truth.  Surely  you 
have  not  agreed  with  me,  to  pre,ach  to  empty  benches. 
An  automaton  could  effect  that  as  well  and  better  than 
a  living  man ;  for  it  has  no  nerves  or  affections  to  be 
lacerated  and  distressed  by  such  an  operation.  There 
are  reasons,  indeed,  which  in  God's  sight  will  excuse  ab- 


—  32  — 

sonce  from  this  sanctuary ;  but  a  little  cold,  a  little  raiu, 
a  little  heat,  or  a  little  inconvenience  produced  by  time 
or  distance,  will  never  justify  the  forsaking  of  the  temple 
to  any  truly  pious  mind.  Continue,  therefore,  I  pray,  the 
beautiful  example  1  have  witnessed  these  two  Sabbaths. 
It  is  my  hope  that  an  honorable,  just  and  elevated  tone 
of  feeling  will,  in  this  respect,  ever  characterize  all  the 
members  of  this  congregation ;  that  they  will  carry  into 
practice  the  beautiful  sentiment  of  the  psalmist :  "  I  re- 
joice, when  they  say  to  me,  let  us  go  into  the  house  of 
the  Lord !" 

But  your  mere  presence  is  not  sufficient ;  it  is  your 
duty  to  give  a  reverential  and  careful  attention  to  the 
services  of,God's  house.  The  solemnity  of  your  deport, 
ment  should  correspond  with  the  sacredness  of  the  place 
and  of  the  worship  here  offei'ed.  The  stranger,  when  he 
enters  this  place,  should  be  impressed  with  awe — should 
be  made  irresistibly  to  feel,  that  he  is  among  people,  who 
know  how  to  value  the  blessings  of  their  revered,  time- 
hallowed  religion.  Your  children  should  grow  up  ac- 
customed to  your  reverential  and  thoughtful  conduct  in 
the  house  of  God.  Never  should  they  behold  in -you  a 
light,  supercilious  air,  or  an  indifferent,  careless,  perhaps 
sleepy  countenance.  You  should  offer  the  prayers  of 
your  heart  with  the  true  spirit  of  devotion  ;  you  should 
listen  to  the  exposition  of  the  word  of  God,  not  with  a 
captious  nor  critical  spirit,  not  with  a  desire  for  the 
mere  drapery  of  the  sermon,  but  with  a  healthful  appetite 
for  the  truth.  It  should  be  your  desire  to  hear  the  truth, 
rather  than  seek  for  the  mere  enjoyment  of  a  gratified 
curiosity. 

Nor  is  an  attentive 'hearing  sufficient.  You  will  not 
do  justice  to  your  minister,  if  you  do  not  compare  his 
preaching  with  the  word  of  God.  No  tradition,  no  as- 
sertion of  the  holiest  minister  that  ever  preached  is  to 


—  33   — 

weigh  a  feather  with  you,  unless  it  be  in  hannony  with 
this  revealed  truth.  My  word  is  not  to  be  your  faith. 
Y^u  will  do  me  great  injustice,  if  you  do  not  meditate 
and  search  for  yourselves  in  the  word  of  life.  It  is  my 
prayer,  that  I  may  never  utter  one  sentiment,  never  ad- 
vance one  opinion  in  this  place,  which  the  spirit  of  inspir- 
ation will  not  indorse.  But  be  assured,  whether  I  succeed 
in  this  or  not,  my  efforts  will  be  barren  of  their  noblest 
results,  if  they  fail  in  stimulating  you  to  a  careful  and 
diligent  study  of  the  word  of  God,  and  the  requirements 
of  your  religion.  And  while  I  thus  urge  you  to  an  en- 
lightened independence,  I  ought  to  warn  you  against  that 
factious  and  criminal  independence  which  finds  fault  with 
the  preacher,  either  because  he  does  not  say  all  that  you 
would  like  to  have  him  say  on  all  subjects,  or  because 
he  may  utter  sentiments  that  cross  the  track  of  your 
opinions  or  your  life.  Of  what  worth  to  you  is  a  man, 
who  will  not  speak  the  truth  on  those  subjects  which  are 
vital  to  your  peace,  your  comfort,  your  salvation  ?  Of 
what  value  to  you  is  a  man,  whose  cry  is  peace,  peace, 
when  you  are  in  danger  of  eternal  strife  ?  What  interest 
have  you  in  hearing  a  man,  who  aims  either  to  tickle 
your  faiucy,  amuse  your  intellect,  or  sport  about  the 
mere  flowers  and  drapery  of  this  world,  while  he  is  afraid 
to  analyze  your  character,  unfold  the  great  principles  on 
which  the  noble  structure  of  our  heavenly  religion  is 
based,  and  urge  you  to  tread  the  road  of  life !  In  the 
truth  you  have  a  fearful  interest,  but  in  error  you  have 
no  interest.  And  hence  the  great  question  with  you 
should  ever  be,  Has  the  preacher  uttered  the  truth  ?  Is 
it  in  harmony,  not  with  our  preconceived  opinions,  but 
with  the  word  of  God  ?  There  are  many  of  you  proficient 
in  secular  pursuits,  at  whose  feet  I  would  willingly  sit 
and  receive  instruction  in  those  things,  with  reference  to 
which  your  lives  have  been  spent.  But  I  should  deem 

3 


—  34  — 

myself  unworthy  of  my  position  here,  unworthy  of  your 
confidence,  if  1  were  to  permit  any  of  you  to  dictate, 
what  or  how  I  shall  preach,  while  I  remain  your  minister. 
You  have  chosen  me  to  fill  this  post,  because  you  had 
confidence  in  me,  that  I  would  act  wisely ;  that  I  would 
uphold  and  defend  the  banner  of  reform  and  progress, 
which  you  have  so  firmly  planted ;  and  it  is  my  prayer, 
that  God  will  strengthen  me  to  meet,  in  this  respect, 
your  expectations  and  justify  your  confidence. 

But  my  labors  do  not  cease  here,  are  not  bounded  by 
the  walls  of  the  temple ;  they  extend  farther.  I  refer 
here  more  particularly  to  the  religious  training  of  your 
children,  in  which  sacred  task  it  will  be  my  duty  to  as- 
sist. If  you  are  at  all  desirous  of  establishing  your  reli- 
gion on  a  firm  and  enlightened  basis,  the  religious  edu- 
cation of  the  rising  generation  must  not  be  neglected. 
They  should  early  be  taught  the  principles  of  our  holy 
faith,  arid  the  beauty  and  sublimity  of  its  doctrines  be 
impressed  on  their  minds ;  they  should  be  early  in- 
structed in  the  language  and  history  of  their  fathers,  to 
recognize  the  ruling  hand  of  Providence  that  shapes  the 
destinies  of  nations ;  they  should  early  be  initiated  into 
the  practice  of  those  high  duties  prescribed  by  our  reli- 
gion, "  to  do  justice,  to  love  kindness,  and  to  walk  hum- 
bly before  the  Lord,"Jand  when  they  become  old,  they 
will  not  depart  therefrom.  A  solid,  enlightened  religious 
foundation  should  be  laid  in  the  minds  of  the  young,  so 
that  when  they  grow  up  to  become  useful  members  of 
society,  fitted  for  any  pursuit  they  may  choose  to  adopt, 
they  may  never  cease  to  be  good  Israelites  in  the  literal 
sense  of  the  word,  "  champions  in  the  cause  of  God  !" 

My  friends,  Providence  has  permitted  me  to  enter  on 
the  duties  of  my  office  in  your  midst  after  nearly  twenty- 
three  years  of  ministerial  labor  in  this  country.  Shifted 
to  a  new  sphere  of  action,  surrounded  by  new  circum- 


—  35  — 

stances,  I  may  have  much  to  learn,  you  may  have  much  to 
bear.  Yet  I  trust,  you  will  not  find  me  an  inapt  scholar, 
while  I  anticipate  on  your  part  a  kind  disposition,  that 
will  not  be  eagle-eyed  to  detect  infirmities,  and  a  charity 
broad  enough  to  cover  many  imperfections.  To-day  I 
renewedly  devote  myself  wholly  to  your  service,  and  to 
that  of  our  holy  religion.  Whatever  toil  of  mind  or  con- 
cern of  heait  appertains  to  this  high  position,  whatever 
is  just  and  right,  that  you  are  authorized  to  claim,  nor 
will  you  find  me  backward  in  responding  to  it.  And 
whatever  a  minister  ought  to  ask  of  any  congregation, 
whatever  is  just  and  right,  and  most  for  their  highest 
good,  he  should  ask  of  them,  all  that,  you  may  be  as- 
sured, will  be  expected  of  you.  Being  the  first  well-or- 
ganized r<  formed  congregation  in  this  large  and  enter, 
prising  city,  possessing  a  temple  that  rivals,  if  not  sur- 
passes, in  beauty  and  magnificence,  any  Jewish  house  of 
worship  in  the  world ;  living  in  the  midst  of  an  enlight- 
ened, liberal-minded  community — you  have  a  high  and 
noble  task  to  perform.  Strange  as  it  may  sound,  it  is 
nevertheless  true,  that  to  the  Gentile  world  Judaism  is 
as  yet  only  known  by  name,  and  all  the  interest  evinced 
in  its  behalf  proceeds  more  from  a  vague  curiosity  than 
a  true  appreciation  of  its  merits.  It  is  your  duty,  there- 
fore, as  well  as  your  privilege,  to  continue  the  exercise 
of  your  efforts  and  of  your  influence  for  the  spread  of 
enlightened  religious  views,  for  the  prosperity  of  our 
people  and  the  accomplishment  of  its  mission,  for  the 
triumph  of  truth,  light  and  love,  in  this  great  Western 
World.  You  should  take  a  noble  pride  in  sustaining 
this  congregation  in  all  its  arrangements,  in  its  steady, 
intelligent  piety,  its  warm,  open-hearted  benevolence,  a 
model  congregation — this  temple,  with  its  beautiful,  sol- 
emn, elevating  worship,  a  fountain  of  great  and  blessed 
influence.  And  as  strangers  from  all  parts  come  hither 


—  36  — 


and  behold  your  order,  your  growing  numbers,  your  fer- 
vent zeal,  your  devout  worship,  your  liberality,  your 
ardent  patriotism,  they  will  go  from  us  as  the  ancient 
Israelite  left  the  temple,  bearing  with  him  impressions 
of  God's  majesty  to  the  farthest  parts  of  his  beloved  laud. 


IV. 

• 

SERMON 

Delivered  at  the  Consecration  of  the 
TEMPLE   SHAARE   EMETH. 

(GATES  OF    TRUTH.) 

AT    ST.    LOUIS    MO. 
Friday,  27th  of  August  1869, 


"  This  is  the  day,  which  the  Lord  hath 
appointed,  we  will  rejoice  and  be 
glad  thereon"  Ps.  cxvm.  24. 

THIS  invitation  of  the  Psalmist  to  rejoicing  and  glad- 
ness finds  a  ready  response  in  your  hearts  in  this  hour. 
For  four  long  years  have  you  anxiously  looked  forward 
to  this  day.  From  the  moment  that  the  ground  was 
broken  and  active  preparations  were  made  for  the  erec- 
tion of  this  sanctuary,  the  progress  of  the  work  was 
watched  with  anxious  hopes  and  deep-felt  solicitude,  and 
from  day  to  day  you  asked  the  question,  nansi  tOX  'no 
D^npx  "OD  "  when  may  we  enter  this  house  and  appear  in 
the  presence  of  God  ?"  Your  exertions  and  sacrifices  are 
fully  rewarded  ;  your  hopes  and  expectations  fully  real- 
ized. For  the  temple  is  now  completed  in  all  its  beauty 
and  magnificence ;  it  stands  here  in  its  finished  artistical 
symmetry,  presenting  thai  u  silent  harmony,"  with 
which  architecture  delights  the  eye  of  the  beholder,  and, 
"  as  a  thing  of  beauty,  will  be  a  joy  forever." 

In  uniting  your  efforts  for  this  undertaking,  you  have 
nobly  discharged  a  duty,  which  you  owed  to  your  reli- 


—  40  — 

gion  and  to  your  God-  -and  whereas  the  faithful  perfor- 
mance of  duty  imparts  tranquility  to  the  mind  and 
awakens  joyous  sensations  in  the  bosom,  of  what  a  pure 
and  exalted  nature  must  these  emotions  be,  if  such  duty 
involve  a  holy  purpose,  if  its  discharge  aim  at  the  accom- 
plishing of  an  object,  that  will  redound  to  the  benefit 
and  salvation  of  ourselves  and  of  those  that  will  come 
after  us.  To  realize  an  object  so  grand,  to  perpetuate 
the  time-honored  religion,  which  has  been,  for  thousands 
of  years,  the  light,  the  solace,  the  shield,  the  very  life  of 
Israel,  you  have  entered  on  and  accomplished  this  enter- 
prise. With  the  dedication  of  this  temple  a  new  point 
of  union  is  created  for  the  scattered  sons  of  Israel,  a 
new  sanctuary  is  established  on  freedom's  soil,  wherein 
to  worship  the  God  of  our  fathers,  the  God  of  heaven 
and  earth,  in  conformity  to  His  holy  will,  in  accordance 
with  our  convictions.  With  hearts  full  of  gratitude  we 
have,  therefore,  "blessed  the  Lord  our  God,  who  has 
preserved  us  alive,  sustained  us  in  health,  permitted  us 
to  enjoy  this  season,"  and  to  participate  in  the  sacred 
rite  of  dedicating  this  house  to  His  holy  name. 

In  examining  the  history  of  the  Jewish  settlements  in 
this  country,  the  gradual  formation  of  the  congregations 
already  established  or  yet  in  a  state  of  incipiency,  that 
are  scattered  over  these  States,  it  is  a  gratifying  reflec- 
tion, to  observe  the  zeal  and  alacrity  which  ever  were 
and  still  are  manifested  by  our  brethren  :  to  rally  round 
the  standard  of  our  religion,  to  unite  in  upholding  the 
Divine  creed  revealed  on  Sinai  and  designated  as  the  in- 
heritance of  the  congregation  of  Jacob.  This  fact  is  the 
more  gratifying,  when  the  individual  and  sectional  dif- 
ferences of  those,  who  unite  for  religion's  sake,  are  taken 
into  consideration.  Not  a  single  case  is  known  where  a 
whole  congregation  in  the  Old  World  seized  the  wander- 
ing staff,  to  seek  an  asylum  in  the  New  World,  as  did  the 


—  41  — 

pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower.  Israelites  immigrated  as 
individuals  or  single  families,  spread  over  the  country, 
until  their  number  at  a  particular  place  warranted  the 
formation  of  a  religious  body  corporate.  Nor  had  they 
anything  more  in  common  except  their  religion,  but  were, 
in  most  cases,  in  every  other  respect,  strangers  to  each 
other.  But  there  is  something  in  the  soul  of  the  Israe- 
lite, which  prompts  him  to-  join  his  brother-Israelite  for 
the  consolidation  of  the  religious  truths  entrusted  to 
him  ;  and  that  is,  the  consciousness  of  the  importance  of 
his  mission,  for  which  he  is  selected :  to  be  the  bearer  and 
guardian  of  divine  truth  for  all  times  and  to  all  nations. 

The  ceremony  of  dedication,  which  we  this  day  cele- 
brate with  holy  joy  and  grateful  hearts  towards  our  God 
and  merciful  Protector,  is  of  deep  importance  to  our- 
selves, of  absorbing  interest  to  the  stranger.  Simple 
and  solemn  in  its  conception,  it  is  a  type  of  the  devotional 
exercises,  that  will  henceforward  take  place  within  these 
walls.  No  imcomprehensible  mystery  is  interwoven  in 
our  creed.  The  absolute  unity  of  God,  as  erst  proclaimed 
by  Abraham  and  taught  by  Moses,  yet  forms  the  basis 
and  the  keystone  of  our  belief.  God  is  our  father,  and  we 
are  his  children — man  is  created  in  the  image  of  God 
and  destined  to  immortality,  are  cardinal  doctrines  of 
our  faith.  "  The  Lord  is  the  immutable,  eternal  Being, 
the  omnipotent  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering 
and  abundant  in  beneficence  and  truth,  keeping  mercy 
even  unto  the  thousandth  generation,  forgiving  iniquity, 
transgression  and  sin" — this  heavenly  message  justifies 
our  hope  in  salvation.  The  divine  commandment,  "  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  is  the  immovable 
fountain-head  of  our  moral  law,  and  the  invariable  guide 
of  our  practice.  These  truths,  that  are  within  the  grasp 
of  the  simplest  understanding,  and,  as  we  are  taught  and 
firmly  believe,  will  one  day  be  universally  acknowledged, 


—  42  — 

form  the  spiritual  basis  of  our  temple.  The  spirit  of  these 
truths  is  embodied  in  every  prayer  we  utter,  in  every 
religious  discourse  that  is  pronounced  from  a  Jewish 
pulpit.  Amidst  all  the  transformations  which,  for  thou- 
sands of  years,  have  changed  the  face  of  the  globe, 
amidst  the  downfall  of  thrones  and  the  crash  of  empires, 
we  have  preserved  the  glorious  legacy  inherited  from 
our  fathers :  of  being  the  depositaries  ol  the  heaven-re- 
vealed word — of  being  the  living  witnesses  of  the  living 
God,  through  all  times  and  in  all  zones. 

These  considerations  naturally  suggest  themselves  on 
an  occasion  like  this.  The  dedication  of  this  temple 
bears  testimony  to  the  vital  power  of  our  religion,  the 
sublime  mission  of  our  people,  the  continuing  mercy  of 
God,  who  has  promised,  that  even  in  our  dispersion  He 
will  not  cast  us  off,  nor  break  the  covenant  made  with 
our  fathers.  We  stand  here  as  the  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  past  and  the  future.  To  the  past  we  recur 
with  feelings  of  pride  mingled  with  sadness;  to  the 
future  we  look  with  never-fading  hope.  There  was  a 
time,  when  the  stern- realities  of  life  assumed  so  depress- 
ing and  crushing  an  aspect  for  the  Israelite,  as  to  leave 
him  no  other  resource  but  his  patient  trust  in  God  and 
the  hope  of  brighter  days.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that 
our  name  is  associated  with  the  destinies  and  the  history 
of  almost  every  nation  that  ever  existed,  whilst  our  reli- 
gion, taking  its  rise  in  the  cradle  of  mankind,  and  send- 
ing forth  its  branches  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  may  be 
termed  the  religion  of  history.  May  others  claim  the 
host  and  the  power,  we  rest  contented  with  the  spirit. 
"  For  not  by  hosts,  nor  by  power,  is  the  salvation  of 
mankind  to  be  accomplished,  but  through  my  spirit,  saith 
the  Eternal."  Who  can  deny  the  potent  agency  of  Israel's 
religion,  directly  and  indirectly,  in  the  civilization,  the 
moral  a*id  religious  training  of  man  ?  The  sanctuary, 


—  43  — 

which  is  this  day  dedicated  to  its  holy  purpose,  affords  a 
new  guarantee  for  the  perpetuity  of  our  faith ;  and,  in 
the  fulness  of  our  hearts,  we  may  well  exclaim  with  the 
psalmist,  "  This  is  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath  ap- 
pointed, we  will  rejoice  and  be  glad  thereon !" 

But  this  deep  and  joyous  interest,  which  we  all  feel  in 
the  completion  of  this  temple,  must  not  grow  cold  or 
wane,  but  receive  a  new  stimulus  from  this  very  hour. 
The  outward  structure  is  finished,  but  the  inward  struc- 
ture, the  edification  of  the  soul,  begins  anew  this  day. 
With  the  act  of  dedication  we  lay  the  corner-stone  to  the 
spiritual  fabric  of  holiness,  which  we  are  called  upon  to 
raise  within  this  house,  and  which  is  to  sanctify  us 
before  God.  The  object  of  this  temple  is,  therefore, 
fully  expressed  in  the  words  of  Scripture,  which  shall 
serve  as  our  text,  n=TOB>n  •«?{?  nn  DT6N  )V3  CK  "D  nT  )'K 
"  This  is  none  other  but  a  house  of  God  and  this  is  the 
gate  of  heaven."  Gen.  xxviiL  17. 

Far  be  it  from  us  to  suppose,  that  we  could  rear  a 
temple,  and  be  it  ever  so  spacious,  that  is  to  serve  as  a 
special  abode  for  the  Almighty  ;  we  have  no  such  gross 
and  material  notions  of  the  Deity.  We  pray  with  Solo- 
mon, "  Behold  the  heavens,  and  the  heavens  of  heavens 
do  not  contain  Thee  ;  how  much  less  this  house  we  have 
built."  We  exclaim  with  Isaiah,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  is 
the  Lord  Zebaoth,  the  whole  earth  is  lull  of  his  glory  !" 
Indeed  the  patriarch  Jacob,  who  first  employed  the  term 
"  house  of  God"  in  our  text,  applied  it  to  no  structure  made 
of  human  hands.  In  a  moment  of  pious  inspiration  he 
designated  thereby  the  awful  spot,  where  God  had  ap- 
peared and  promised  to  him  his  heavenly  protection. 
This  is  precisely  the  case  with  us.  We  call  this  place  a 
house  of  God,  because  we  are  here  impressed  with  a 
deeper  awe  of  God's  majesty  ;  because  His  divine  prom- 
ises here  speak  loudest  to  our  hearts ;  because  we  are 


44  

here  more  strongly  reminded  of  His  omnipotence  ;  be- 
cause here  the  thought  ofv  His  goodness  and  holiness 
thrills  most  powerfully  through  our  souls ;  because,  in 
fine,  as  "  the  gate  of  heaven,"  to  our  imagination  it  ap- 
pears to  stand  on  the  confines  of  heaven  and  earth,  that 
are  thus  blended  together  in  the  light  of  eternal  truth. 
As  the  house  of  God  it  shall  sanctify  our  whole  life  and 
develop  the  divine  attributes  of  our  nature. 

The  temple  is  primaily  a  house  of  prayer,  ;^a  wa  "3 
Nip11  r6sn  "For  my  house,  says  God  through  Isaiah, 
shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer."  Here  we  shall  praise 
God  in  the  assembly  of  the  devout,  shall  pay  our  vows 
to  the  Most  High,  shall  offer  to  Him  the  sacrifices  of  our 
adoration  and  gratitude.  Here  we  shall  celebrate  the 
Sabbaths  and  festivals  of  the  Lord  and  learn  to  distin- 
guish between  the  holy  and  the  profane.  Here  we  shall 
discard  from  our  thoughts  our  secular  pursuits,  our 
cares  and  our  diversions,  our  hatreds  and  our  envies, 
and  apply  ourselves  to  the  improvement  of  our  mind 
and  the  ennobling  of  our  heart.  Here  we  shall  draw 
from  the  fountain  of  life,  the  word  of  God,  those 
laws  and  precepts,  those  principles  and  maxims,  which 
man  must  observe,  in  order  to  enjoy  happiness  here  and 
to  hope  for  salvation  hereafter.  Here,  in  the  presence 
of  God,  we  shall  fonn  resolutions  of  amendment,  that  will 
never  be  broken,  and  our  faith  in  God  shall  increase  in 
purity  and  strength  from  day  to  day. 

But  the  prophet  significantly  adds,  Q-»)oyn  i>3^  "  to  all 
the  nations."  The  prayers  offered,  the  service  performed 
here,  must  not  be  a  closed  book,  but  intelligible  to  all,  to 
the  Israelite  as  well  as  to  the  Gentile.  We  have  nothing 
to  conceal.  Our  religious  doctrines  need  only  be  known, 
to  win  the  hearts  of  all.  If  Solomon  at  the  dedication  of 
the  temple  already  prayed,  "  But  also  to  the  stranger, 
who  is  not  of  thy  people  Israel,  who  will  come  and  pray 


—  45  — 

in  this  house,  mayest  thou  listen  in  heaven,  and  grant 
his  petition"—  how  much  greater  is  our  duty,  so  to  con- 
duct our  worship,  that  all  who  come  may  understand 
and  feel,  that  the  name  of  the  Eternal  is  called  upon  this 
temple,  and  that  it  is  a  house  of  God  !"  There  was  a  time, 
when  our  fathers  had  to  hide  from  the  public  gaze; 
when  the  believers  in  the  One  and  only  God,  persecuted 
by  prejudice,  fanaticism  and  intolerance,  were  not  per- 
mitted openly  to  assemble  for  public  worship,  but  were 
obliged  to  perform  their  divine  service  in  sequestered 
localities,  in  fear  and  trembling.  That  time  has  happily 
passed  in  all  civilized  countries,  never  existed  for  us 
here,  in  Freedom's  happy  home.  Everywhere  through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  these  States  magnificent 
temples  are  reared  aloft,  at  the  side  of  churches,  in  honor 
of  the  God  of  Israel,  as  enduring  monuments  of  Equal  Lib- 
erty and  Freedom  of  Conscience.  These  temples,  there- 
fore, must  reflect,  not  only  in  their  exterior  beauty,  but 
in  their  inward  appointments  the  march  of  enlighten- 
ment, the  light  of  progress,  the  sublime  spirit  of  re- 
ligion. 

If,  therefore,  as  you  have  resolved,  the  Divine  service 
in  this  temple  shall  not  consist  "  in  mere  lip-work,  the 
acquired  precepts  of  men,"  words  and  ceremonies  without 
sense  and  meaning,  but  shall  engage  the  mind  and  heart, 
and  leave  a  salutary  impression  for  active  life ;  if  you 
here  worship  God  in  sincerity  and  truth ;  if  your  soul 
rises  on  the  solemn  tones  of  the  organ  and  the  sacred 
notes  of  psalmody  towards  heaven  to  draw  strength  and 
comfort  for  its  life  upon  earth ;  if  these  lofty  arches  sug- 
gest to  you  the  consciousness  of  your  lofty,  heaven-as- 
spiring  destiny,  of  your  high  dignity  as  men  and  moral 
beings,  of  your  grateful  recognition  of  the  goodness  of 
our  Heavenly  Father  ;  if  the  architectural  harmony  dis- 
played here  impresses  you  with  the  wished-for  harmony 


—  46  — 

of  your  own  life ;  if  these  finished  proportions  lead  you, 
to  strive  for  that  perfection  enjoined  in  the  Divine  com- 
mand, -pnf>x  'n  oy  rvnn  D'on,  "  Thou  shalt  be  perfect  with 
the  Lord  thy  God ;"  if,  in  fine,  in  your  aggregate  capacity 
as  a  congregation,  you  will  be  distinguished  by  works  of 
piety,  of  love  and  humanity,  even  as  this  temple  is  con- 
spicuous above  other  edifices — then,  indeed,  may  you 
exclaim,  "  Let  us  rejoice,  when  they  say,  we  will  go  into 
the  house  of  God,  for  it  is  none  other  but  a  house  of  God, 
and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven  !" 

And  this  house  of  God  shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer 
for  all  nations !  Twenty-five  centuries  ago  did  the  voice 
of  inspiration  proclaim  this  heavenly  message,  which 
has  only  gained  strength  with  the  change  of  times  and 
the  lapse  of  ages.  Israel's  religion  alone  is  capable  of 
furnishing  the  basis,  upon  which  mankind  may  unite,  the 
banner  around  which  all  the  families  of  man  may  gather. 
It  is  founded  upon  no  inexplicable  mystery,  embodies  no 
doctrines  that  are  repugnant  to  reason,  enjoins  no  com- 
mands at  which  humanity  may  revolt.  Its  truths  flow 
directly  from  the  eternal  fountain,  and  will  ever  remain 
the  living  springs  of  salvation.  One  God,  the  Father  of 
all !  One  humanity,  His  children  all !.  An  immortal 
spirit  animating  every  human  being  ! — Moral  liberty  the 
inalienable  birth-right  of  every  man ! — Justification  by 
our  own  works  ! — Can  we  conceive  of  a  creed  more  sub- 
lime or  more  worthy  of  universal  acceptance  ?  And  this 
is  the  creed  of  the  Jewish  religion,  that  is  so  often  de- 
rided, and  of  the  Jewish  people,  that  have  been  so  long, 
and  in  many  bigoted  and  semi-civilized  countries,  are 
still  sorely  persecuted.  This  is  the  divine  revelation  kin- 
dled by  the  spirit  of  God  in  the  spirit  of  man,  and  of 
which  Israel  has  been  the  faithful  depositary  throughout 
the  chequered  phases  of  its  existence.  Silently,  but  efiec. 
tually  have  these  heavenly  truths  been  cherished  and 


—  47  — 

cultivated  under  the  weight  of  oppression,  in  the  shades 
of  compulsory  seclusion — boldly,  fearlessly  do  we  pro- 
claim them  under  the  benign  sway  of  liberty,  and  chal- 
lenge the  scrutiny  of  enlightened  free-men.  And  al- 
though the  prevailing  diversities  of  creed  preclude  the 
prospect  of  an  early  religious  fraternization,  yet  we  un- 
deviatingly  cling  to  the  conviction,  that  a  day  will  arrive, 
"  when  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
as  the  waters  cover  the  sea,  and  the  Lord  will  be  ac- 
knowledged One  and  His  name  be  One." 

The  ' '  house  of  God,"  shall  not  only  strengthen  our 
faith  in  the  Holy  One,  not  only  inculcate  truth,  but  shall 
indelibly  impress  on  our  souls  those  principles  of  justice 
and  love,  which  are  ever  to  guide  our  conduct,  our  deal- 
ings with  the  world  at  large.  The  sanctification  of  life, 
which  is  the  principal  aim  of  our  religion,  can  only  be 
attained  by  the  faithful  execution  of  our  moral  duties,  as 
taught  by  the  word  of  God.  Justice  and  love  are  the 
two  adamantine  pillars,  upon  which  the  welfare  of  society, 
upon  which  the  peace  of  communities  and  of  nations,  is 
securely  established.  Acts  of  injustice,  by  which  the 
eternal  boundaries  are  removed  and  the  rights  of  our 
neighbors  infringed,  are  the  sources  of  unhappiness  and 
of  the  hatred,  which  alienates  man  from  man,  spin  pnv 
P*1V,  "  Justice,  only  justice  shalt  thou  pursue,"  is  the  ad- 
monition of  the  first  and  greatest  prophet  to  his  age  and 
to  all  succeeding  generations.  Our  temple  emphatically 
teaches  this  lesson.  Whenever  we  enter  its  hallowed  pre- 
cincts, we  are  reminded,  that  it  is  dedicated  to  the  God 
of  justice,  and  the  beautiful  words  of  the  psalmist  must 
occur  to  our  minds,  "  Lord,  who  may  sojourn  in  Thy 
tent,  who  may  dwell  upon  Thy  holy  mountain  ?  He 
who  walks  uprightly  and  who  works  divine  justice  !"- 
Our  faith  in,  our  reliance  upon  divine  justice,  taught  and 
fortified  in  the  house  of  God,  would  be  empty  sounds,  if 


—  48  — 

they  did  not  stimulate  us,  to  sanctify  our  lives  by  deeds 
of  justice  and  righteousness. 

But  simple  justice  would  be  cold  and  dead,  if  it  were 
not  warmed  and  animated  by  love.  The  pious  love  to 
God  and,  through  God,  to  all  men  will  be  developed  and 
fostered  in  this  house.  It  is  our  religious  home,  where 
we  appear  as  children  of  our  universal  Father.  Outside 
of  this  temple  we  meet  with  those  diversified  relations 
of  human  society,  with  those  unavoidable  distinctions  of 
wealth,  of  position  and  of  education,  which  are  towering 
icebergs  between  man  and  man,  and  coldly  separate  the 
hearts.  But  here  in  the  light  of  religion,  before  the  sun 
of  the  truth,  that  One  God  has  created  us,  that  we  have 
all  one  Father — here  the  icy  walls  melt  away  and  the 
cold  barriers  are  levelled  to  the  ground.  Here,  in  the 
house  of  the  One  and  Only  God,  which  leads  to  the  gate 
of  heaven,  we  are  forced  to  acknowledge,  that,  as  we 
shall  one  day  be  equals  in  the  realm  of  eternity,  so  we 
are  equals  here  before  God,  and  the  only  distinction  that 
is  valid  and  true,  is  "  the  distinction  between  the  righte- 
ous and  the  wicked,  between  him  who  serves  God  and 
him  who  serves  Him  not."  Our  very  prayer  can  only 
then  be  of  value,  if  the  heart  is  free  from  hatred  and 
the  prayer  is  the  expression  of  genuine  love.  The  con- 
templation of  divine  love,  which  embraces  every  human 
being,  awakens  this  love  to  God  and  to  our  fellow-man 
in  our  soul. 

When  you,  my  brothers,  my  sisters,  enjoy  prosperous 
days,  when  happy  events  embellish  your  lot,  and  you 
enter  the  house  of  God,  to  thank  him  for  his  benefits — 
is  it  not  upon  the  altar  of  divine  love,  that  you  pour  out 
the  libation  of  your  gratitude  ?  And  when  your  horizon 
should  be  darkened,  when  dangers  are  impending,  when 
affliction  shrouds  your  soul  in  mourning  and  gloom,  and 
you  hasten  to  the  house  of  God,  to  supplicate  his  help  and 


—  49  — 

comfort — is  it  not  the  divine  love,  upon  which  you  count 
for  aid  and  deliverance  in  the  hour  of  trial  and  distress  ? 
And  when  remorso  for  an  evil  deed  gnaws  at  your  heart, 
and  you  humbly  petition  for  pardon,  is  it  not  the  love 
and  mercy  of  God,  on  which  you  base  your  hope  for 
forgiveness  ?  Prayer  then  is  the  mediator,  the  electric 
current,  between  the  love  of  man  and  the  love  of  God. 
And  this  love  shall  be  the  abiding  sentiment  of  our  life. 
Hence  it  is,  that  an  ancient  teacher  declares  ~\y~b  mnNi 
rnvu  i»na  &a  nr  1102,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself,  is  the  highest  principle  of  the  law."  But  not 
only  our  religion,  but  every  creed  which  claims  to  be 
divine,  adapted  to  the  wants  of  man  and  founded  upon 
a  rational  basis,  must  place  this  law  at  the  very  head  of 
its  duties;  and  every  house  of  God,  which  shall  be  re- 
cognized as  a  truly  religious  institution,  must  foster  and 
cultivate  in  its  prayers  and  teachings  and  in  all  its  exer- 
cises of  worship,  sentiments  and  feelings  of  love. 

]$o  graver  error  can  be  perpetrated  by  men,  farther 
they  can  not  stray  from  the  right  path,  a  more  grievous 
sin  they  can  not.  commit  than  perverting  the  Word,  which 
God  has  sent  into  the  world  for  the  promotion  of  love 
and  peace,  into  the  means  of  hatred  and  hostility,  of 
oppression  and  persecution,  by  teaching  and  preaching 
in  the  consecrated  places,  where  love  and  peace  should 
be  cherished  and  fostered,  hatred  and  persecution  against 
those,  who  hold  different  religious  convictions.  This 
temple  will  not  be  thus  perverted.  The  prayers  and 
hymns  which  will  here  be  offered,  are  invocations  to  our 
heavenly  Father  to  grant  his  blessings  not  only  to  ug, 
but  to  all  his  children  ;  the  symbols  and  ceremonies  ex- 
hibited here  are  designed  to  remind  us,  that  God  has 
destined  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  to  holiness  and 
salvation;  and  the  word  of  God,  which  will  be  read 
from  this  desk  and  interpreted  from  this  pulpit,  will  ever 

4 


50   — 


breathe  the   spirit  of  peace  and  good-will  to  all   the 
children  of  man. 

Truly  then  may  we  apply  the  words  of  our  text  to 
this  temple,  "  This  is  none  other  but  a  house  of  God,  and 
this  is  the  gate  of  heaven  !" 


V. 

ADDRESS 

Delivered  at  the  Laying  of  the  Corner-Stone 


OP 


TEMPLE     SINAI, 

OF  NEW  ORLEANS, 

Sunday,  Nov.  19th,   1871. 


WE  are  engaged  in  a  holy  work.  The  corner-stone 
of  a  new  Jewish  house  of  worship  is  about  to  be 
laid,  and  we  have  assembled  to  witness  this  symbolical, 
time-honored  ceremony  and  to  testify  by  our  presence 
the  deep  interest  we  feel  in  the  erection  of  this  edifice. 
Upon  this  foundation,  it  has  been  resolved,  to  rear  a  house 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  the  Most  High,  the  Creator 
and  Governor  of  the  universe,  the  Father  of  all  mankind, 
the  Guardian  of  Israel  —a  temple  worthy  of  the  name  we 
bear,  and  the  religion  we  proiess.  With  the  completion 
of  this  edifice,  the  recently  organized  congregation, 
"  Temple  Sinai,",  will  possess  a  religious  home,  wherein 
to  assemble  from  "new  moon  to  new  moon,  and  from 
Sabbath  to  Sabbath,"  in  order  to  foster  the  eternal  truths 
of  Judaism,  pure  and  undefiled  in  spirit  and  in  form,  and 
to  pour  out  the  inmost  feelings  of  their  hearts  in  praise, 
in  thanks,  and  in  supplication  before  the  eternal,  omni- 
potent, and  all-merciful  Ruler  of  the  universe,  who  has 
guarded  and  directed  the  destinies  of  Israel  from  Sinai's 
world-redeeming  revelation  to  the  present  day,  and 


—  54  — 

whose  promised   divine  guardianship  will   endure  to  all 
eternity. 

The  occasion  forcibly  calls  to  mind  the  prophetic 
words  of  Isaiah  (XVIII.  16):  "Therefore,  thus  saith  the 
Lord  Eternal,  behold,  I  have  laid  in  Zion  as  a  foun- 
dation a  stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  corner-stone, 
well  founded:  the  faithful  will  not  hastily  waver." 

Sinai  and  Zion !  Two  names  of  the  most  thrilling 
interest,  of  the  deepest  importance,  of  the  most  salutary 
influence  to  Israel  and  to  mankind.  They  are  the 
mountains  of  the  Lord,  from  which  heavenly  truth  gushed 
forth  and  spread  in  ever-widening  circles.  They 
are  the  fountain-heads  of  the  religious  and  moral  culture 
of  the  human  race,  the  elevated  points,  where  heaven  and 
earth  are  happily  blended,  the  divine  and  human  harmo- 
niously united.  Sinai  and  Zion  are  household-words, 
wherever  God  is  worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  for 
"  from  Sinai  the  Lord  shone  forth,  at  his  right  hand  a 
fiery  law" — "and  from  Zion  comes  forth  the  law  and  the 
word  of  God  from  Jerusalem." 

Sinai  and  Zion  I  What  hallowed  associations  cluster 
around  these  two  names,  whose  pristine  brightness  has 
remained  undimmed  in  the  march  of  many  centuries  and 
the  wide  area  of  the  earth's  surface.  They  are  forever 
synonyms  of  light  and  truth.  Even  from  this  distant 
spot  in  the  New  World  we  cannot  help  contemplating 
them  with  a  solemn  veneration  and  sacred  delight,  as 
their  outlines  and  their  historical  importance  rise  before 
our  mental  vision.  The  stone,  laid  as  a  foundation  in 
Zion,  was  the  imperishable  block,  hewn  from  Sinai's 
adamantine  quarry.  However  fierce  the  storm  of  human 
passions,  however  violent  the  onslaught  of  the  miscon- 
ceived zeal,  engendered"  by  blind  fanaticism,  it  was  too 
firmly  imbedded,  ever  to  be  dislodged.  It  was  "  a  tried 
stone,"  designed  and  fashioned  by  the  hand  of  Omnipot- 


—  55  — 

ence,  and  upon  its  foundation  the  temple  of  truth  and  of. 
love,  the  temple  of  knowledge  of  the  One  and  only  God, 
the  Father  of  all — and  of  the  fraternal  bonds  that  should 
unite  all  his  children,  was  to  be  reared  in  all  its  holiness 
and  glory  for  the  happiness  of  man.  It  was  "a  precious 
corner-stone,"  exceeding  all  worldly  grandeur  and  ma- 
terial wealth,  as  it  constitutes  the  immovable  basis  of 
moral  purity  and  greatness  of  soul.  Whoever  built  upon 
this  stone — his  structure  was  well  founded;  whoever 
stood  "firm  and  faithful,  did  not  hastily  waver,"  but  from 
the  midst  of  temporary  gloom  and  harrassing  trials  he 
looked  forward,  with  the  eye  of  hope,  to  a  bright  and 
peaceful  future. 

"The  tried  stone,  the  precious  corner-stone,  laid  as  a 
sure  foundation  in  Zion,"  is  identical  with  the  corner, 
stone  of  Judaism.  To  speak  without  metaphor.  Judaism 
is  founded  upon  the  belief  in  the  absolute  unity  of  God, 
in  the  recognition  and  worship  of  the  One  spiritual,  all- 
wise,  all-merciful  and  omnipotent  Creator  and  Ruler  of 
the  universe,  who  has  created  man  in  His  own  image  by 
endowing  him  with  a  soul,  capable  of  comprehending 
this  truth,  of  unfolding  its  inherent  intellectual  and  moral 
powers,  and  destined  for  immortality.  This  truth,  pro- 
claimed from  Sinai  and  ratified  at  Zion  for  the  benefit  of 
all  mankind,  "in  order,  as  Solomon  prays,  that  all  the 
people  of  the  earth  may  know,  that  the  Lord  is  God  and 
there  is  none  else" — is  neither  enveloped  in  mysteries, 
nor  disfigured  by  types.  It  is  in  beautiful  harmony 
with  human  reason  and  directly  appeals,  in  tender  and 
soothing  accents,  to  the  human  heart.  It  is  the  perpetual 
revelation  of  the  eternal,  immutable,  ever-living  God  to 
the  spirit  of  man  in  every  age.  Before  the  heavenly 
light  of  this  truth,  the  lurid  flames  of  idolatry  and  su- 
perstition, and  the  meteoric  flashes  of  atheism  must  pale 
their  ineffectual  fires.  The  standard  of  religious  truth, 


—  56  — 

thus  unfurled  by  Israel,  will  be  held  aloft,  until  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  will  flock  around  it  for  their  bles- 
sing. 

The  belief  in  the  One  eternal  God  and  Father,  as 
taught  by  Judaism,  has  proved,  directly  and  indirectly, 
the  most  potent  factor  in  the  advancement  of  true  civi- 
lization. It  has  steadily  promoted  the  moral  progress, 
elevated  the  mind  and  refined  the  heart  of  man.  It  has 
shed  its  heavenly  light  on,  and  clearly  defined  the  eternal 
principles  of  justice,  of  liberty,  of  brotherly  love.  At  a 
time,  when  darkness  covered  the  nations,  when  heathe- 
nism with  its  flagrant  vices  and  gross  aberrations  bruta- 
lized mankind,  the  law  of  Sinai  inculcated  as  practical 
rules  for  government  and  for  life,  "  you  shall  have  but 
one  law  and  one  judgment  for  the  native  and  for  the 
stranger,"  i.  e.  you  shall  mete  out  equal  justice  to  all; 
"  you  shall  neither  vex  nor  oppress  the  stranger,"  but 
accord  him  the  full  measure  of  liberty  which  you  enjoy; 
"thoushalt  love  the  stranger  as  thyself" — a  command 
which  appears  as  a  complementary  enforcement  of  the 
comprehensive  moral  precept,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself." 

And  these  principles  were  compressed  into  one  beautiful 
sentence,  by  the  last  of  Zion's  prophets,  "Have  we  not  all 
One  Father  ?  hath  not  one  God  created  us  ?  Why  then 
should  wetact  treacherously  one  against  the  other  ?"  Yes, 
the  belief  in  one  God,  who  embraces  all  mankind  in  His 
paternal  love  and  wise  providence,  must  strengthen  the 
sentiment  in  the  human  heart,  to  regard  and  treat  every 
human  being  as  the  child  of  God,  as  a  brother.  Upon 
this  belief,  therefore,  "  as  the  tried  and  precious  corner- 
stone," the  world-wide  temple  of  humanity  is  destined 
to  rise,  slowly  but  surely,  in  its  grand  and  lofty  pro- 
portions. 

The   memories   and    associations    clustering    around 


—  57  — 

Sinai  and  Zion  were  never  dissevered  from  Israel's 
history;  they  are  not  simply  the  dead-letter  record  of 
the  past,  but  are  enshrined  as  imperishable  legacies  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people  selected  by  God  as  the  mis- 
sionaries of  divine  truth ;  they  come  to  us  to-day,  en- 
forced not  only  by  the  faith  and  constancy,  the  virtues 
and  sacrifices  and  sufferings  of  a  long  line  of  ancestry, 
but  by  the  lessons  and  experiences  of  the  times  in  which 
we  live ;  and  we  are  resolved,  not  with  any  feeble  ex- 
pectation or  faltering  hope  only,  but  with  a  firm  persua- 
sion and  assured  trust  and  faith,  to  send  them  down  all 
sparkling  and  blazing  to  the  remotest  posterity.  In  the 
spiritual  empire  of  religious  truth  "  the  sceptre  has  not 
departed  from  Judah."  The  two  great  religious  systems, 
which  ostensibly  govern  the  civilized  world,  Christianity 
and  Mohamedanism,  have  sprung  from  Judaism ;  what- 
ever is  sound  and  vigorous  and  fruitful  in  their  consti- 
tutions has  been  drawn  from,  and  is  quickened  by  her 
life-sustaining  maternal  bosom.  Judaism,  like  the  sun, 
is  resplendent  in  its  own  light,  while  its  plane! ary  orbs 
shine  in  a  borrowed  effulgence  drawn  from  its  primitive 
fountain. 

Truth  remains  unalterably  the  same.  It  is  the  signet 
of  God,  stamped  upon  nature  and  history,  upon  matter 
and  spirit,  eternal  and  immutable  like  God  himself.  The 
principles  and  doctrines  of  Judaism,  therefore,  with 
their  divine  charter  of  Sinai  and  their  tried  corner-stone 
of  Zion,  must  be  true  to  all  eternity.  Xo  expediency,  no 
compromise,  no  sophistry  can  shake  their  permanent 
validity.  If  the  recognition  and  worship  of  the  Holy 
One  was  ever  true  (and  this  fact  must  be  universally 
conceded),  if  at  any  time  it  was  the  precious  corner- 
stone of  genuine  faith  and  morality,  then  the  doc* 
trine  of  One  God,  who  exists  peerless  and  alone  in 
His  divine  majesty,  must  remain  true,  as  long  as  the  mind 


—  58  — 

of  man  is  capable  of  reasoning  and   the  heart  of  man 
susceptible  of  truth. 

It  was  the  peculiar,  heaven-ordained  mission  of  Israel, 
to  be  the  custodian,  the  propagator,  the  ever-existing 
witness  of  this  truth,  the  Messiah  of  nations,  the  light  of 
the  gentiles.  To  this  end  it  was  appointed,  by  divine 
mandate,  "  as  a  Kingdom  of  priests  and  a  holy  nation ;" 
to  this  endit  has  been  preserved  throughout  the  checquered 
events  of  history,  amidst  the  crumbling  of  thrones  and 
the  crash  of  empires,  bravely  sustaining  the  fierce  and 
prolonged  storms  of  intolerance,  of  fanaticism  and  perse- 
cution that  raged  around  its  devoted  head.  Beyond  the 
cloudy  horizon  of  the  gloomy  present,  it  ever  discerned 
the  bright  dawn  of  a  serene  future,  "  when  the  knowledge 
of  God  will  cover  the  earth,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea." 
For  although  religious  truth  has  advanced  by  slow 
and  measured  stages,  yet  its  dominion  has  visibly  ex- 
panded, and  its  future  realization,  though  remote,  is  sure 
and  certain.  In  the  words  of  the  prophets  Isaiah  and 
Micah,  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  that 
the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  firmly  estab- 
lished on  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted 
above  the  hills  ;  and  unto  it  shall  flow  all  the  nations. 
And  many  people  shall  go  and  say,  Come  ye,  let  us  go 
up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  to  the  house  of  the  God 
of  Jacob  ;  that  he  may  teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  we  may 
walk  in  his  paths."  Until  that  time,  when  all  mankind 
will  know  and  worship  the  One  and  only  God,  Judaism, 
the  venerable  and  faithful  mother,  is  willing  and  anxious 
to  live  in  amity,  in  brotherhood,  and  in  peace  with  her 
numerous  offspring  of  variously  apparelled  daughters. 
Synagogue  and  Church^  though  differing  in  matters  of 
faith,  are  yet  in  perfect  agreement  on  the  moral  law  of 
the  Bible.  Upon  this  broad  platform  we  stand  as  a  united 
band  of  brothers,  inspired  by  a  common  duty,  to  work 


—  59  — 

for  the  improvement  and  happiness  of  our  common  race. 
There  is  nothing  more  wonderful  in  the  history  of  the 
human  race  than  the  way,  in  which  the  religious  and 
moral  ideal  of  Sinai  has  traversed  the  lapse  of  ages,  ac- 
quiring a  new  strength  and  beauty  with  each  advance  of 
civilization,  and  infusing  its  beneficent  influence  into 
every  sphere  of  thought  and  action.  The  moral  develop- 
ment of  mankind  is  sure  to  progress  to  its  destined  goal 
by  the  assimilating  and  attractive  influence  of  this  grand 
ideal. 

In  the  present  aspect  of  the  world  it  devolves  upon 
Judaism,  to  present  the  standard  of  this  ideal  to  the  pub- 
lic eye,  in  all  its  attractiveness  and  perfection,  stripped 
of  mere  speculative  doctrines  and  ritualistic  observances, 
which  in  former  periods  of  history  were  deemed  necessary 
for  its  preservation.  True  religion  sanctions  no  doctrine 
which  collides  with  our  reason  or  our  moral  sense,  no 
speculative  theories  or  ceremonies,  which,  without  being 
opposed  to  conscience,  are  at  least  wholly  beyond  its 
sphere. 

Guided  by  these  principles  and  considerations  the 
movement  of  modern  reform  in  Judaism  was  inaugurated, 
and  has  steadily  gained  the  fervent  sympathy  and  sup- 
port of  numerous  faithful  adherents.  It  is  a  plant  of 
spontaneous  growth,  emanating  from  within  and  not 
from  without,  and  hence  must  thrive  and  prosper.  Re- 
form means  rational  progress ;  reform  means  life ;  reform 
means  enlightened  conviction ;  reform  means  sublime 
devotion  to  the  holiest  interests  and  to  the  grand  ideal 
ever  cherished  by  Judaism.  Under  the  banner  of  reform 
Judaism  has  revived  from  its  lethargy,  has  put  forth  its 
native  energy  and  vigor,  and  bids  fair  to  realize  its  glo- 
rious future.  Directed  at  first  to  the  abatement  of  crying 
abuses  in  the  synagogue  it  has  steadily  extended  its 


—  60  — 

sphere  and  its  regenerating  influence  is  now  felt  in  every 
department  of  Jewish  life. 

It  has  breathed  order  into  chaos,  chased  away  the 
dense  clouds  of  superstition  that  darkened  the  religious 
horizon,  and  purified  the  spiritual  atmosphere  of  Israel. 
And  these  grand  results  have  been  achieved,  "  not  by 
force,  not  by  violence,  but  by  the  power  of  truth." 

Members  of  "  Temple  Sinai !"  Words  are  inadequate 
to  convey  to  you  my  emotions  of  deep-felt  gratitude  for 
having  called  me  from  the  distant  North,  to  express  the 
ideas  and  sentiments,  which  the  act,  in  which  we  are 
engaged,  naturally  inspires.  It  affords  me  a  holy  satis- 
faction, to  witness  the  substantial  evidences  on  your  part, 
that  the  seeds,  which  your  former  teacher  and  guide  has 
sown  in  singleness  of  purpose  and  purity  of  motive,  have 
not  fallen  on  barren  soil.  You  have  undertaken  a  holy 
and  glorious  work.  The  corner-stone  is  about  to  be  laid 
to-day — the  temple  will  soon  be  erected  and  afford,  under 
divine  providence,  a  lasting  monument  to  your  noble 
efforts.  Great,  no  doubt,  were  the  exertions,  great  the 
sacrifices,  which  it  has  hitherto  cost  you ;  and  still  the 
work  is  yet  in  its  inception,  and  great,  no  doubt,  will  yet 
be  the  sacrifices  for  its  completion. 

"  Be  strong,  therefore,  and  of  good  courage,  fear  not, 
nor  be  ye  afraid."  Persevere  in  your  holy  zeal.  "  Re- 
main steadfast  and  faithful,  do  not  hastily  waver." 
Continue  to  act,  as  you  have  hitherto  done,  in  union  and 
harmony,  with  courage  and  perseverance,  and  all  diffi- 
culties will  be  easily  surmounted,  a  triumphant  success 
will  crown  your  efforts. 

As  your  fathers,  the  whole  people  of  Israel,  were  as- 
sembled in  the  days  of  yore  at  the  base  of  Mount  Sinai 
and  listened  to  the  words  of  revelation,  which  since  then 
constitute  the  corner-stone  of  the  temple  of  humanity, 
so  are  you  assembled  this  day  around  the  corner-stone 


—  61   — 

of  "Temple  Sinai,"  renewing  your  allegiance  to  God, 
determined  to  remain  faithful  to  the  spirit  of  his  holy 
law.  But  unlike  your  fathers,  you  are  not  encamped  in 
a  bleak,  inhospitable  desert,  nor  surrounded  by  hostile, 
barbarian  tribes,  but  are  free  citizens  of  a  great  and 
glorious  Republic,  settlers  of  a  thriving  and  noble.  State, 
residents  of  a  fair  city,  whose  changing  fortunes  could 
not  affect  the  high-minded  impulses,  the  liberal  and 
generous  spirit,  by  which  its  inhabitants  were  ever 
distinguished.  Indeed,  the  numerous  attendance  of  our 
fellow-citizens  of  other  creeds,  some  to  testify  their  inte- 
rest and  sympathy  as  spectators,  others  by  active 
participation  in  the  exercises  of  the  hour,  practically 
illustrates  the  beautiful  line  of  the  sacred  bard,  "  Behold 
how  good,  and  how  pleasant  it  is,  for  brethren  to  dwell 
together  in  unity !" 

Let  the  corner-stone,  therefore,  be  laid  with  the  ac- 
customed rites  by  the  worthy  brotherhood,  whose  motto 
is  Light,  Truth  and  Charity ;  whose  principles  and 
practice  are  in  full  harmony  with  the  principles  and  prac- 
tice of  Judaism. 

In  the  name  of  God,  we  solemly  dedicate  this  corner- 
stone, upon  which  the  sacred  edifice  is  to  rest.  May  the 
"  Temple  Sinai"  realize  the  fervent  anticipations  of  its 
founders,  become  a  fountain  of  holy  and  blessed  influence, 
a  visible  embodiment  and  messianic  teacher  of  the  two 
cardinal  principles  of  true  religion.  "  Allegiance  to  God- 
Good  will  to  man/" 


VI. 
SERMON 

Delivered  at  the  Dedication  of  the 

TEMPLE  AHAWATH  CHESED, 

OF  NEW  YORK, 

Friday,  April  19th,  1872. 


"  In  order  that  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  may  know  that  the  Lord  is 
the  true  God,  none  else"  (Z  K. 
vm,  60.) 

WITH  these  words  King  Solomon  concluded  his  ad- 
dresses and  his  prayers  at  the  dedication  of  the 
Temple,  which  marked  an  era  in  Israel's  history.  These 
words  have  an  infinitely  wider  application  than  the  place 
and  the  occasion  on  which  they  were  uttered.  They  not 
only  designate  the  object  of  every  Jewish  house  of  wor- 
ship, but  most  emphatically  express  the  end  and  object 
of  the  Jewish  religion  itself.  Ever  since  the  divine  pro- 
mise was  made  to  Abraham,  "  In  thee  and  in  thy  seed 
all  the'families  of  the  earth  shall  be  blessed  !"  ever  since 
Israel  received  the  glorious  appointment,  "  You  shall  be 
unto  me  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  a  holy  nation ;" 
Judaism  has  strenuously  labored,  in  the  various  phases  of 
its  checkered  history,  to  realise  this  promise,  to  act  in 
the  spirit  of  this  appointment,  to  the  end,  "  that  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  may  know  that  the  Lord  is  the  true 
God,  none  else." 

5 


—  66  — 

In  dedicating,  therefore,  this  magnificent  temple  to  the 
worship  of  the  Most  High,  the  Creator  of  the  universe, 
the  Father  of  all  mankind,  under  conditions  and  sur- 
roundings so  different  from  those  which  existed  at  the 
time  of  Solomon,  we  are  forcibly  reminded  of  the  eternal, 
indefeasible  validity  of  Israel's  mission,  "  to  be  a  coven- 
ant of  the  people,  a  light  of  the  nations,"  -\^  oy  TVI;^ 
3>U  (Isa.  42,  6).  However  great  the  change  which  our 
position  to  the  outer  world  has  undergone  in  the  course  of 
centuries,  our  peculiar  relation  to  God,  as  the  lineal  de- 
scendants and  heirs  of  those,  who  were  divinely  com- 
missioned as  the  depositaries  of  the  eternal  religious  truth, 
as  the  custodians  of  pure  morality,  is  as  patent  this  day 
as  at  any  previous  period  of  our  history  to  every  impar- 
tial, unprejudiced  mind.  The  cardinal  doctrine  of  our 
faith  and  of  true  religion  in  general,  "  Hear,  O  Israel,  the 
Lord  our  God  is  One !"  is  still  repeated  in  our  houses  of 
worship  with  undiminished  fervor,  and  the  decalogue  still 
regarded  and  revered  as  the  corner-stone  of  morality 
and  social  well-being.  And,  however  much  of  the  prom- 
ised divine  blessing  may  already  have  been  imparted  to 
the  families  of  man  through  our  agency,  still  cfur  task  is 
Hot  finished,  our  mission  not  accomplished  untill  "  the 
whole  earth  is  full  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea" — until  the  spirit  of  God,  the  spirit 
of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  the  spirit  of  justice  and  bene- 
volence, the  spirit  of  counsel  and  of  genuine  fear  of  God 
will  animate  the  whole  human  race,  and  harmony,  peace 
and  love  will  unite  all  mankind  into  one  sacred  bond  of 
brotherhood.  Notwithstanding,  therefore,  all  the  politi- 
cal, social,  material,  and  intellectual  changes,  which  have 
taken  place,  and  which  have  transformed  the  aspect  of 
the  world,  our  present  relation  to  God  ib  the  same  as 
in  the  days  of  Abraham,  of  Moses  and  of  Solomon.  In 
this  respect  the  words  of  the  prophet  are  literally  verified  : 


—  67  — 

I,  the  Lord,  do  not   change,  and  ye,  sons  of  Jacob,  shall 
never  cease.     (Mai.  3,  6.) 

Now  the  question  arises,  what  are  the  consequences 
of  our  changed  outward  relations  to  the  world,  and  our 
unchanged,  spiritual  relation  to  God  ?  In  other  words, 
how  can  the  duties  attached  to  either  be  made  to  har- 
monize ? 

The  proper  illustration  of  this  subject  is,  in  my  opinion, 
alike  interesting  to  Israelites  and  non-Israelites,  and  is 
eminently  suited  to  the  truth-inspiring  act,  in  which  we 
are  engaged. 

The  twenty-first  verse  of  the  fifty-ninth  chapter  of 
Isaiah  shall  serve  our  text : 

"  And  as  for  me,  this  is  my  covenant  with  them,  saith 
the  Lord,  my  spirit  that  is  upon  thee,  and  my  words, 
which  I  have  put  in  thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart  out  of 
thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  children,  nor  out 
of  the  mouth  of  thy  children's  children,  saith  the  Lord, 
from  henceforth  and  to  all  eternity." 

The  history  of  Israel  is  characterized  by  three  distinct 
periods  :  that  of  the  patriarchs,  of  the  political  independ- 
ence as  a  nation,  and  of  the  dispersion. 

In  "  looking  to  the  rock  from  whence  we  were  hewn," 
we  find  that  Abraham  had  a  pure  conception  of  God  and 
His  all-wise  providence ;  that  he  fostered  a  rational  faith 
in  God  ;  that  he  practised  sublime  virtue  and  piety,  by 
which  alone  the  temporal  and  eternal  happiness  of  the 
individual  and  of  the  race  can  be  secured.  The  source 
of  blessing  thus  welling  in  Abraham,  should  not  be  suf- 
fered to  dry  up,  but  was  destined  to  become  through  him 
and  his  posterity  the  ultimate  property  of  all  mankind. 
Hence  it  followed,  as  a  neceseary  consequence,  that  his 
descendants  should  cultivate  and  preserve  this  blessing, 
or  this  faith,  in.  its  purity,  that  through  them,  it  might 
be  communicated  to  the  families  of  the  earth. 


—   68  — 

The  patriarchs,  in  their  simple  patriarchal  family-life, 
were  able  to  foster  this  faith,  without  requiring  a  distinct, 
exclusive  relation  to  the  outward  world.  They  could 
enjoy  and  cultivate  this  blessing  in  any  country,  in  any 
relation  of  life,  under  various  political  and  social  condi- 
tions, and  by  their  simple  but  sublime  faith,  by  their 
simple  but  heart-felt  worship,  by  their  pious  walk  before 
God,  be  paragons  of  holiness  and  shining  models  to  their 
contemporaries.  In  this  period,  therefore,  with  one  sin- 
gle exception,  we  meet  with  no  revelation  of  specific 
laws,  with  no  institution  of  distinct  ceremonies  and  sym- 
bols. It  was  enough  for  the  patriarchs  to  exhibit  a  life 
distinguished  by  a  pure,  firm  faith  in  the  One  and  only 
God,  and  by  the  brightest  virtues  of  humanity. 

But  when  the  descendants  of  Abraham  had  increased  to 
a  numerous  people,  other  methods  were  required  to  pre. 
serve  the  divine  blessing  inherited  from  the  patriarchs 
for  the  benefit  of  the  human  race.  "  Delivered  from  the 
iron  furnace  of  Egypt,"  they  had  outgrown  the  simple 
family  relation,  without  yet  possessing  the  prerequisites 
for  national  independence.  In  order  to  accomplish  their 
inherited  mission  as  custodians  and  propagators  of  reli- 
gious truth,  Divine  Wisdom  put  them  in  possession  of  the 
promised  land ;  enacted  laws  and  statutes,  civil  and  poli- 
tical, adapted  for  the  exigencies  of  their  independent 
national  existence ;  established  a  mode  of  public  worship, 
symbols  and  ceremonies  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age — but  all  this  with  the  specific  object  of  creating  a  na- 
tional unity,  of  blending  and  amalgamating  the  pure  faith 
in  God,  the  pure  religous  idea,  with  the  very  life-blood  of 
the  people. 

But  who  does  not  perceive  that  all  these  acquisitions 
and  developments — the  possession  of  a  country,  the  poli- 
tical, agragrian,  civil  and  ecclesiastical  institutions,  the 
sacrifices  and  levitical  orders — were  but  radiations  of  the 


—  69  — 

grand  central  focus,  whose  light  was  increased  by  their 
reflecting  beams.  Who  does  not  perceive  that  all  these 
institutions  and  laws,  which  fill  the  best  part  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch and  have  mostly  become  inoperative,  were  es- 
tablished by  Divine  Wisdom,  to  realize  Israel's  grand 
mission  as  the  depositaries  and  channel  of  the  divine 
blessing. 

Looking  through  the  vista  of  thousands  of  years,  the 
ancient  commonwealth  of  Israel  apears  to  us  as  a  sunny, 
fruitful  oasis  in  the  midst  of  the  benighted,  sterile  desert 
of  paganism. 

We  have  arrive'd  at  the  third  period.  When  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago,  under  the  providence  of  God,  all 
these  institutions  were  subverted ;  when  the  Jewish  State 
was  dissolved,  the  political  organization,  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  constitution,  the  sacerdotal  and  levitical 
orders,  and  the  sacrificial  worship,  were  overwhelmed  by 
the  ruins  of  the  Temple,  Israel  ceased  to  be  a  body  poli- 
tic and  returned  to  its  primitive  family  relation.  The 
remaining  fragments  of  the  people  were  scattered  to  all 
parts  of  the  globe,  and  the  single  families  united  in  more 
or  less  numerous  religious  communities  or  congregations, 
held  together  by  the  bond  of  their  common  inherited 
faith. 

What  has  been,  and  what  is  now,  our  relation  to  God 
under  this  changed  state  of  things  ? 

We  occupy  the  same  relation  to  our  Heavenly  Father, 
which  we  erst  sustained,  before  it  pleased  God  to  create 
our  nationality,  to  lead  us  into  the  promised  land,  to 
form  us  into  a  body  politic,  with  distinct  civil,  political 
and  ecclesiastical  institutions,  in  a  word,  before  he  in 
vested  us  with  that  peculiar,  exclusive  character  which, 
for  the  time  of  its  continuance,  was  deemed  the  most 
efficient  means  of  realizing  our  mission :  to  preserve  intact 
the  world-redeeming  religious  truth.  We  have  returned 


—  70  — 

to  the  same  relation  to  God,  which  the  patriarchs  occupied 
in  the  days  of  old.  The  covenant  of  God  with  Abraham, 
renewed  and  amplified  on  Sinai  with  the  whole  house  of 
Israel,  has  never  been  abrogated  or  superseded,  but 
applies  to  us  iu  its  original  force  and  significance.  As 
the  seed  and  heirs  of  the  great  Patriarch  it  is  still  our 
duty,  not  to  suffer  the  source  of  the  divine  blessing  to 
become  extinct  or  adulterated  within  us,  but  to  be  up 
and  doing,  in  order  that  the  salutary  rays  of  the  true 
knowledge  and  worship  of  God  pour  their  saving  light 
on  all  the  families  of  the  earth.  All  the  outward  condi- 
tions and  insignia  of  our  political  and  national  existence 
were  no  integral  parts  of  the  divine  covenant,  but  simply 
constituted  the  means  of  its  preservation  during  a  long 
series  of  centuries.  The  covenant  itself  is  still  unchangea- 
bly the  same :  That  through  Abraham  and  his  seed  all 
the  families  of  the  earth  shall  be  blessed.  And  this  is 
precisely  the  idea  expressed  in  our  text,  "  And  as  for  me, 
this  is  my  covenant  with  them,  saith  the  Lord,  my  spirit 
that  is  upon  thee,  and  my  words,  which  I  have  put  in 
thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of 
the  mouth  of  thy  children,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy 
childi-en's  children,  saith  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  and 
unto  all  eternity." 

From  what  has  been  advanced  it  will  thus  appear,  that 
in  our  present  condition  our  relation  to  God  is  no  longer 
that  of  a  peculiar  people  or  nation,  in  a  political  sense  of 
these  terms.  We  occupy  the  same  ground  which  the 
patriarchs  occupied :  we  are  distinguished  as  Jewish 
families.  Our  peculiar  relation  to  God  only  consists  in 
our  peculiar  mission :  To  foster  the  pure  faith  in  the 
Holy  One  by  the  worship  of  His  Holy  Name,  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  and  by  a  virtues  and  moral  conduct.  And 
this  our  peculiar  mission  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  involv- 
ing sacred  obligations  generally  incumbent  upon  man, 


but  as  the  special  appointment  by  God  of  ourselves  and 
our  children,  to  preserve  the  spiritual  treasures  confided 
to  Israel  in  all  their  purity,  that  they  may  become  the 
perennial  source  of  inexhaustible  blessings  to  all*  the  chil- 
dren of  man.  We  can  not  renounce  this  peculiar  relation 
to  God  without  annihilating  our  identity,  without  ceasing 
to  be  Israelites,  without  severing  ourselves  from  a  long 
line  of  ancestry,  creating  a  gap  which  can  never  be  closed, 
and  bidding  adieu  for  ever  to  our  parental  home.  We 
can  not  renounce  this  peculiar  relation  to  God,  until  the 
hope,  which  springs  from  its  stem  like  an  ever-blooming 
branch,  until  the  hope,  which,  like  a  radiant  star,  shines 
through  the  gloomy  night  of  our  history,  shall  be  real- 
ized :  the  hope,  that  pure  faith  in  God,  genuine  piety, 
virtue  and  brotherly  love  will  one  day  become  the  herit- 
age of  all  mankind. 

But  our  peculiar  relation  to  God  by  no  means  implies 
a  peculiar  relation  to  our  fellow-men.  Divested  of  all 
specifically  political  and  national  characteristics,  our 
families  constituting  integral  portions  of  the  people  of 
the  various  countries  of  our  birth  or  adoption,  we  cor- 
dially mingle  and  earnestly  desire  to  cultivate  a  friendly 
intercourse  with  our  fellow-citizens  of  other  Breeds,  in 
all  secular  and  human  relations ;  and  this  was  precisely 
the  condition  of  the  patriarchs.  In  all  human  and 
worldly  affairs  they  worked  hand  in  hand  with  their 
contemporaries;  they  only  differed  in  their  faith,  in 
their  knowledge  and  worship  of  God,  in  their  uncom- 
promising virtue.  In  this  respect  they  were  far  in  ad- 
vance of  their  age.  In  the  patriarchal  times,  religion 
was  not  yet  united  with  the  State — with  us  Israelites 
religion  has  been  totally  severed  from  the  State  for  the 
last  eighteen  hundred  years. 

But  it  may  be  objected  that  this  view  of  our  present 
position  and  duties  was  opposed  to  the  principle  of  pro- 


—  72  — 

gress  which  we  cherish,  and  of  which  this  temple  shall 
afford  renewed  testimony  and  a  glorious  monument.  It 
may  be  asked,  can  it  be  possible,  that  for  you  alone 
Moses  should  have  lived  and  taught  in  vain — that  his 
laws,  his  statutes  and  his  ordinances  should  have  been 
ephemeral  institutions — that  the  prophets  and  God-in- 
spired men,  whom  Israel  has  produced,  should  have  left 
no  impress  of  their  teachings — that  all  the  trials,  the  ex- 
periences and  the  developments  of  history  should  only 
serve  to  place  you  on  the  same  ground  which  your 
fathers  occupied  many  hundred  years  before  Israel  was 
created  a  nation  ?  Is  not  this  retrogression  rather  than 
progress  ? 

These  objections,  however  plausible  they  seem,  can 
readily  be  answered.  True  it  is,  we  firmly  and  unre- 
servedly adhere  to  the  religion  taught  by  Moses,  and 
fervently  declare:  3py  r6np  nsnio  nt?D  1^>  mv  min, 
"  The  law  which  Moses  commanded  us  is  the  inheritance 
of  the  congregation  of  Jacob."  The  great  prophet  has 
not  lived  in  vain  for  us,  and  the  lessons  and  influence 
of  the  God-inspired  men,  who  taught  in  his  spirit,  are 
not  lost  on  our  minds  and  hearts,  although  we  are  no 
longer  th*  sole  possessors  of  their  doctrines,  their  ideas 
and  their  teachings.  The  powerful  stream  of  religious 
truth,  taking  its  rise  with  Abraham,  and  increasing  in 
volume  and  purity  under  Moses  and  the  prophets,  has 
sent  forth  two  great  and  mighty  branches,  which  have 
in  part  diffused  the  divine  blessing  in  many  directions. 
But  in  order  to  properly  appreciate  our  present  relation, 
it  is  necessary  to  distinguish  between  the  Mosaic  Polity r, 
that  is,  the  civil  constitution  of  the  people  of  Israel  in 
the  shape  of  a  theocracy,  and  the  Mosaic  Religion,  that 
is,  the  revelation  of  the  Divine  Providence  and  govern- 
ment of  the  universe.  The  first,  with  all  its  laws,  stat- 
utes and  ordinances,  has  lost  its  practical  value ;  the 


—  73  — 

latter  constitutes  the  unchangeable,  imperishable  scope 
of  Israel's  existence.  The  peculiar  polity  was  necessi- 
tated by  the  conditions  of  the  age,  to  secure  the  per- 
petuity of  religious  truth.  It  was  the  means,  and  not 
the  end.  Hence  the  Jewish  religion  survived  the  Jewish 
State.  The  political  institutions,  the  civil  and  ceremo- 
nial enactments  contained  in  the  Pentateuch,  had  a  tem- 
porary and  local  value,  and  could  never  be  designed  to 
stand  forever ;  but  the  Religion,  for  the  preservation  of 
which  they  were  instituted,  should,  through  Israel,  be- 
come the  law  of  the  world. 

And  for  this  higher  destiny  the  law  of  Moses  made 
ample  provision.  It  not  only  enjoined  on  the  people 
obedience  to  God  as  the  national  Ruler,  but  also  pure, 
self-sacrificing  love — with  all  the  heart,  all  the  soul,  and 
all  the  might — towards  God  as  the  Father;  not  only 
the  observance  of  the  civil  and  ceremonial  laws,  but 
also  of  the  moral  precepts  of  virtue  and  holiness ;  not 
only  respect  for  the  person  and  property  of  the  neigh- 
bor, but  also  disinterested  love  for  the  native  and 
stranger.  The  civil  and  ecclesiastical  laws  were  but  an- 
cillary to  the  establishment  of  religious  truth — i.  e.,  the 
purest  conception  of  God  and  his  holy  will ;  the  sanctifi- 
cation  of  man  by  holy  sentiments  and  virtuous  deeds ; 
the  diffusion  of  justice  in  its  highest  sense,  and  love  in 
its  sublimest  scope.  While,  therefore,  the  laws  in  their 
outward  form  were  dependent  upon  existing  conditions, 
and  had  to  stand  or  fall  with  these  ever-changing  con- 
ditions, the  spirit,  which  called  them  into  being,  is  un- 
changeable and  imperishable,  because  it  is  the  spirit  of 
religion,  the  spirit  of  God,  which  is  immutable,  which 
retains  its  eternal  creative  vigor  and  freshness  amidst 
all  the  changes  of  the  outward  relations  of  life. 

And  it  is  this  spirit,  and  not  the  letter,  which  we 
cherish  and  revere.  Not  in  their  concrete  outward  form, 


—  74  — 

but  in  their  spirit,  are  the  institutions  of  Moses  and  the 
revelations  of  the  prophets,  our  eternal,  inexhaustible 
sources  of  instruction  and  never  failing  guides.  But  it 
would  be  an  error  to  assume,  that  with  the  destruction 
of  its  political  nationality  Israel  had  forfeited  Divine 
grace,  had  fallen  from  its  high  estate  of  being  the  di- 
vinely-appointed teacher  of  genuine  religious  truths  for 
all  mankind.  Our  status  during  the  dispersion,  similar 
to  that  occupied  by  the  patriarchs,  is  therefore  no  retro- 
gression, but  actual  progress.  Our  relation  to  God  is 
unchanged.  The  realization  of  our  mission  is  facilitated 
by  the  law  of  Moses  and  the  teachings  of  the  prophets, 
which,  in  their  spirit,  constitute  the  inalienable  inherit- 
ance of  the  congregation  of  Jacob. 

This  conclusion  is  not  the  result  of  a  speculative  the- 
ory, but  is  borne  out  by  our  long  eventful  history,  in 
which  God  has  ever  revealed  himself  to  us,  which  has 
planted  the  faith  in  the  benign  providence  of  God  still 
more  deeply  into  our  hearts,  and  enabled  us,  more  fully 
to  comprehend  our  relation  to  God,  our  peculiar  mis- 
sion and  our  general  duties  to  man.  There  is  no  people 
on  earth  that  can  better  learn  its  destiny  and  its  powers 
from  its  history  than  Israel  can  learn  from  its  own ;  and 
in  order  to  realize  our  present  position,  it  is  necessary 
to  comprehend  the  revelation  of  God  in  our  history. 
Through  its  mouth  God  speaks  to  us  as  solemnly  as  he 
once  did  through  the  mouth  of  Moses.  With  the  anni- 
hilation of  our  political  independence  God  himself  has 
reduced  us  to  our  present  stage,  to  faithfully  execute 
the  sacred  commission  which  he  entrusted  to  our  hands, 
'and  to  guard  the  precious  treasure  of  religious  truth, 
not  as  a  nation  among  the  nations,  but  as  families  among 
the  families  of  the  earth.  History  teaches  us,  that  our 
status  as  Israelites  is  a  far  higher  one  than  it  was  at  any 
previous  period,  because  it  bears  a  purely  religious 


—  75  — 

I 

character,  and  is  separated  from  all  political  aspirations 
and  worldly  grandeur.  We  stand  nearer  to  God  than 
at  any  previous  period,  because  our  experiences  in  his- 
tory have  fitted  us  to  understand,  more  clearly  than  we 
have  ever  done  heretofore,  the  object  of  our  mission. 
Our  history  served  us  as  a  special  school,  to  be  educated 
for  our  calling.  The  end  of  our  mission  is  but  partially 
gained ;  for  as  yet  only  a  portion  of  mankind  enjoys  the 
promised  blessing  through  Israel's  instrumentality.  Its 
full  measure  shall  be  realized  not  by  worldly  power  and 
political  ascendancy,  but  by  purely  spiritual  means  and 
moral  agencies. 

Ever  since  our  dispersion  Judaism  has  been  com- 
pletely separated  from  the  State,  has  assumed  its  pris- 
tine purity  as  a  religion  of  the  mind  and  heart,  of  con- 
viction and  of  feeling.  We  know,  better  than  ever 
before,  that  as  Israelites  it  is  our  duty  to  worship  the 
One  and  only  God,  and  to  love  Him  with  all  our  heart, 
with  all  our  soul,  and  with  all  our  might.  We  know, 
that  as  men  we  are  sincerely  devoted,  in  common  with 
our  fellow-citizens  of  other  creeds,  to  the  country  which 
we  claim  as  our  own ;  that  it  is  our  sacred  obligation, 
faithfully  and  cheerfully  to  perform  all  the  duties  of 
citizenship  and  of  humanity,  to  love  every  man  as  our 
neighbor,  as  our  brother,  as  ourselves. 

It  is  well  to  define  thus  publicly  and  solemnly  our  re- 
lation to  the  outward  world,  in  the  light  in  which  it  is 
viewed  by  ourselves,  since  it  frequently  happens,  that, 
when  Jews  and  Judaism  are  touched  upon  in  the  pulpit, 
or  the  press,  intelligent  divines  and  enlightened  writers 
speak  of  the  present  generations  of  Israel  as  belonging 
to  the  past,  as  constituting  a  peculiar  people  with  pecu- 
liar political  aspirations.  It  is  well  to  show,  that  our 
religion  simply  defines  our  relation  to  God  ;  that  in  our 
character  as  men,  as  citizens,  we  have  no  separate  ob- 


—  76  — 

jects,  no  exclusive  ends  to  pursue.  Our  religion  only  so 
far  regulates  our  intercourse  with  the  world,  as  it  insists 
upon  a  moral  and  virtuous  conduct,  upon  the  practice 
of  incorruptible  honesty  and  justice,  of  diffusive  benevo- 
lence, as  the  only  means  of  securing  our  eternal  salva- 
tion. In  every  other  respect,  our  interests  are  identical 
with  the  interests  of  the  country  whose  children  we  are, 
and  for  whose  welfare  and  prosperity  it  is  our  duty  to 
pray  and  to  devote  our  best  energies. 

It  will  thus  be  perceived'  that  our  covenant  with  God 
is  a  spiritual  compact,  which  renders  it  imperative  upon 
us  to  see,  that  the  spirit  of  God  which  rests  upon  us, 
which  has  descended  upon  us  from  the  patriarchs  in  un- 
broken continuity,  shall  not  depart  from  us  and  from  our 
children  to  all  eternity ;  that  we  are  resolved  to  remain 
the  trustees  of  the  divine  blessing,  the  depositaries  of 
pure  religious  truth,  until  all  divergent  creeds  shall  have 
disappeared ;  until  all  the  nations  and  all  the  families  of 
the  earth  will  know  and  worship  the  One  and  only  God  ; 
until,  throughout  the  earth,  God  will  be  acknowledged 
One  and  His  Name  One ;  '•  until  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  will  know,  that  the  Lord  is  God,  there  is  none 
else." 


,. 


VII. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  GOD  IN  MAN," 

A  SERIES  OF  FOUR  SERMONS, 

DELIVEBED  AT 

TEMPLE   EMANU-EL. 


i. 
Sabbath,  March  2d,   1872. 


"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  :  '  Go  thou  up  unto 
this  mount  of  Abarim  and  see  the  land  ichich  I  have 
given  unto  the  children  of  Israel.  And  when  thou 
hast  seen  it,  then  shalt  thou  also  be  gathered  unto 
thy  people,  as  Aaron  thy  brother  hath  been  gathered. 
Because  you  rebelled  against  my  order  in  the  desert 
of  Zin,  at  the  quarrelling  of  the  congregation,  to  sanc- 
tify me  through  the  waters  before  their  eyes:  these  are 
the  waters  of  Meribah  in  Kadesh,  in  the  wilderness  of 
Zin.— -And  Moses  spoke  unto  the  Lord,  saying,  Let 
the  Lord,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  appoint 
a  man,  over  the  congregation,  who  may  go  out  before 
them  and  who  may  bring  them  in ;  that  the 
Congregation  of  the  Lord  be  not  as  a  flock  which 
have  no  xhepherd.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Nonet, 
Take  to  thyself  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun,  a  man 
in  whom  there  is  spirit,  and  thou  shalt  lay  they 
hand  upon  him.  And  thou  shalt  cause  him  to 
stand  before  Elazar  the  priest,  and  befo  e  all  the 
congregation;  and  thou  shalt  give  him  a  charge  before 
their  eyes.  And  thou  shalt  put  some  of  thy  greatness 
upon  him;  in  order  that  all  the  congregation  of  the 
children  of  Israel  may  be  obedient.  "  Numbers 
XXVII,  12-20. 

THE  opinion  has  long  ago  been  expressed,  D1P1D  fN 
miro  iniNGrt  "that  the  Pentateuch  is  not  chronological- 
ly arranged.  "  Some  of  its  historical  incidents  and  episo- 
des stand  in  no  connection  with  the  passage  immediately 


—   80  — 

preceding  and  following,  and  the  date  of  their  occurence 
can  only  be  ascertained  by  a  careful  examination  of  the 
Mosaic  record.  This  absence  of  historical  conciseness, 
moreover,  evidently  favors  the  conclusion,  that  each  of 
the  Five  Books  is  the  separate  work  of  an  independent 
compiler.  The  passage  quoted  as  our  text  obviously  be- 
longs to  the  close  of  the  Pentateuch. 

The  day  approached,  when  Moses  must  die.  The 
people,  for  whom  he  had  so  long  cared,  and  whom  he 
had  so  anxiously  led,  were  now  ready  to  enter  the  pro- 
mised land ;  but  he  was  forbidden  to  go  in  with  them. 
His  work  was  done;  his  great  task  was  accomplished; 
and  it  only  remained  for  him  to  render  up  his  life. 

Yet  it  was  fit,  that  before  this  venerable  servant  of 
God  laid  down  his  charg^  he  should  see  that  part  of  it 
which  could  be  transmitted,  deposited  in  proper  hands, 
that  he  might  die  in  the  comfortable  assurance,  that  the 
great  work  he  had  undertaken  might  be  vigorously 
prosecuted  after  his  death.  Ever  since  the  fatal  day  of 
Meribah,  the  prophet  knew,  that  he  was  doomed  to  die, 
without  setting  the  sole  of  his  foot  upon  the  land,  which 
was  to  form  the  heritage  of  his  people.  But  now  he 
receives  a  distinct  intimation,  as  his  brother  had  before^ 
that  the  appointed  time  was  come  and,  like  him,  he  is 
directed  to  ascend  the  neighboring  mountain,  there  to 
render  up  his  life.  Observe  well  how  he  receives  this  in- 
timation. What  is  the  foremost  thought  in  his  mind  ? 
Nothing  that  concerns  himself — no  regret  of  his  own; 
all  his  thought  is  for  the  welfare  of  the  people :  "Let  the 
Eternal,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  set  a  man  over 
the  congregation,  who  may  go  out  before  them,  and  who 
may  go  in  before  them,  and  who  may  lead  them  out, 
and  who  may  bring  them  in ;  that  the  congrega- 
tion of  the  Lord  be  not  as  sheep  which  have  no 
no  shepherd."  Here  is  the  same  loftiness  of  spirit,  rising 


—  81   — 

above  every  thought  of  self — the  same  zeal  for  the  honor 
of  God, — the  same  devoted  solicitude  for  the  welfare  of 
the  people,  which  had  hitherto  marked  his  whole  career. 
We  may  wade  through  folios  of  history  and  biography 
narrating  the  mighty  deeds  of  warriors,  statesmen  and 
professed  patriots,  before  we  find  another  case  equal  to 
it  in  interest. 

The  suit  of  Moses  was  heard,  and  Joshua,  who  had 
already  had  opportunities  of  distinguishing  himself  by 
his  faithfulness  and  by  his  courage,  was  directed  to  be 
solemnly  inaugurated  at  the  tabernacle  as  the  future 
leader  of  the  Hebrew  host.  Nothing  then  remained  for 
Moses  to  do,  but  to  pour  out  his  heart  before  the  people 
in  lofty  odes  and  eloquent  blessings.  Then  he  retired  to 
the  appointed  mountain,  that  he  might,  before  his  death, 
survey  the  goodly  land,  in  which  the  people  were  to 
establish  that  noble  commonwealth,  which  he  had  so 
laboriously  organized. 

Joshua  was  thus  selemnly  appointed  as  his  successor, 
and  his  fitness  for  the  high  and  difficult  office  was  cha- 
racterized by  a  single  word,  which  I  propose  to  take  as 
the  subject  of  my  discourse  for  this  and  the  next  occa- 
sion. "  God  said  to  Moses,  Take  Joshua,  the  son  of 
Nun,  a  man  in  whom  there  is  spirit."  The  Hebrew  "  nn  " 
and  its  equivalent  "  spirit  "  are  identical  both  in  their 
primary  and  abstract  sense,  nil  and  spirit,  in  their  pri- 
mary sense  denote  "  breath,,  "  and  this  being  the  vital 
function  of  the  animal  organism,  nn  and  spirit  are  em- 
ployed to  designate  the  soul  of  man;  the  intelligent,  im- 
material and  immortal  part  of  human  beings.  And  thus, 
in  its  abstract  sense,  the  term  is  applied  in  both  langua- 
ges to  express  life,  ardor,  fire,  elevation  or  vehemence  of 
mind;  the  essential  qualities  of  any  faculty,  affection, 
sentiment  and  disposition,  of  virtue  and  vice,  of  good  and 
evil.  Hence  the  terms  :  spirit  of  truth  and  spirit  of  false- 

6 


hood — spirit  of  love  and  spirit  of  selfishness — spirit  of 
justice  and  spirit  of  oppression — spirit  of  meeknsss  and 
spirit  of  pride — spirit  of  wisdom  and  spirit  of  folly — spirit 
of  liberality  and  spirit  of  avarice — spirit  of  piety  and 
spirit  of  worldliness :  are  current  in  both  languages  and 
are  familiar  to  our  ears.  In  order,  therefore,  to  correct- 
ly understand  the  quality  of  the  spirit  by  which  Joshua 
is  represented  in  our  text  as  being  animated,  we  must 
refer  to  other  portions  of  Scripture,  in  order  to  appreciate 
it  correctly.  In  the  last  chapter  of  the  Pentateuch, 
where  the  circumstance  is  alluded  to,  it  is  said  of  Joshua 
DD3n  nil  JOE  that  he  was  full  of  the  spirit  of  wisdom. 
Joseph  is  praised  as  a  man,  13  D^rpx  rrn  "ifc?X  in  whom 
there  is  the  spirit  of  God.  Of  Bezalel  we  read  that  God, 
had  filled  him  with  the  spirit  of  God.  The  question, 
therefore,  what  is  the  spirit  of  God  in  man,  which  shall 
become  the  standard  of  our  thoughts,  words  and  actions, 
which  shall  overrule  the  human  spirit — is  naturally  sug- 
gested. Let  us  explain  by  an  illustration. 

Standing  on  the  crest  of  a  mountain  or  in  a  large  plain, 
where  our  eye,  as  far  it  reaches,  may  enjoy  an  unob- 
tructed  view,  it  invariably  appears  to  us,  as  if  we  were 
standing  in  the  centre  of  an  immense  circle  at  our  base, 
and  under  the  very  central  point  of  the  hemisphere ,  of 
the  visible  heavens,  that  seems  to  rest  on  the  distant 
edges  of  the  horizon  all  around  us;  and  though  we  may 
change  our  position  ever  so  often,  every  new  standpoint 
we  may  chose  will  still  appear  to  us  as  the  center  of  the 
vast  earthly  circle,  and  the  highest  point  of  the  celest- 
ial vault  will  seem  to  be  directly  above  our  head.  What- 
ever point  we  may  chose  will  seem  to  us  the  central 
point  of  the  horizon.  This  physical  phenomenon,  no  doubt 
familiar  to  you  all,  finds  its  analogy  in  the  spiritual 
horizon  of  man. 

Every  man  is  naturally  fond  to  regard  himself  as  the 


—  83  — 

central  point,  around  which  the  whole  world  is  moving. 
lie  refers  everything  to  himself,  and  his  judgment  is 
regulated  according  to  the  interests  he  individually  has 
in  any  relation,  circumstance  or  occurrence — pronoun- 
cing good  what  is  useful,  and  bad  what  is  injurious  to 
himself.  "  Dear  self  "  is  his  ideal  ;  it  is,  as  it  were,  the 
text-book  from  which  he  draws  the  rules,  that  sway  his 
judgment  of  allthings  in  heaven  and  earth. 

Of  course  you  will  rarely  find. a  person,  that  will  con- 
fess as  much.  But  we  do  not  now  inquire,  what  man  is 
according  to  his' own  confession,  but  what  he  is,  when 
stripped  of  all  the  guises  which  hypocrisy  and  self  de- 
ception have  drawn  around  him. 

I  will  readily  admit,  that,  if  we  were  capable  of  be' 
holding  the  soul  of  man  in  its  real  state,  divested  of  all 
artificial  guides,  we  would  even  then  rarely  discover  sel- 
fishness, so  absolute  and  unqualified,  as  to  be  relieved 
by  no  redeeming  trait.  Still  this  does  not  contradict  the 
position  assumed,  but  only  proves  that  there  is  seldom  a 
man  to  be  found,  who  had  not  within  him  something  of 
the  spirit  of  God,  tending  to  mitigate  his  asperities  arid 
to  soften  his  harshness ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  glance  at 
the  godless  spirit  in  man,  in  all  its  unvarnished  hid- 
eousnessr  in  order  to  recognize,  what  is  the  true  spirit  of 
God. 

Absolute,  unqualified  selfishness,  in  its  full  force,  will 
in  but  few  men  continue  beyond  earliest  childhood.  It 
has  been  justly  remarked  that  the  child  is  the  greatest 
egotist.  It  appropriates  every  thing  to  itself,  has  no 
conception  of  mine  and  thine,  of  duty,  moral  obligation 
and  responsibility;  its  world  is  bounded. by  the  walls  of 
the  nursery,  and  here  it  is  met  by  persons,  who  only 
give  and  bestow,  witout  demanding  a  return ;  but  as 
our  horizon  expands,  and  the  world  increases  in  extent 
to  our  view,  in  the  same  proportion  do  we  learn  and  feel 


that  we  are  by  no  means  the  centre  of  the  universe,  but 
only  a  link  in  the  infinite  chain  of  all  created  beings,  and 
that  all  things  are  not  intended  for  our  special  individ- 
jial  benefit,  but  also  for  the  benefit  of  others.  Yes,  in 
the  soul  of  the  wise,  the  impression  gains  ground,  that 
we  are  designed  for  the  benefit  of  others  and  to  pro 
mote  the  beneficent  ends  of  Providence,  which  we  are 
unable  to  fully  comprehend.  It  is  only  when  man  is 
duly  impressed  with  this  thought,  that  he  ceases  to  be 
DTK  p,  a  son  of  man,  and  becomes  D\vtf  p/  a  son  of  God, 
inasmuch  as  he  recognizes  God  as  the  Father  of  all  man- 
kind ;  and  having  gained  this  conviction,  he  must  recog- 
nize in  every  human  being  the  .child  of  God,  equally  fa- 
vored, equally  beloved,  and  equally  protected  by  our 
heavenly  Father.  It  thus  appears,  that  only  he,  who 
holds  his  self-love  under  proper  control,  can  worship  God, 
in  spirit  and  in  truth,  as  the  God  of  the  universe ;  while 
the  slave  of  selfishness,  who  lives  in  the  contracted 
sphere  of  his  own  individuality,  constitutes,  as  far  as  in 
him  lies,  "a  state  within  the  state  of  God,"  and  will 
sooner  or  later  rebel  against  divine  government  and 
Providence. 

There  have  been  philosophers,  who  have  tried  to  re- 
duce the  whole  range  of  human  duties  to  a  single  com- 
prehensive proposition.  One  said,  that  the  cardinal  duty 
from  which  all  other  duties  flow,  was  the  strict  adher- 
ence to  truth.  This  proposition  is  by  no  means  incor- 
rect, as  there  is  scarcely  a  sin  which  is  not,  directly  or 
indirectly,  based  upon  a  lie.  Others  maintained,  that 
the  cardinal,  all-comprehensive  duty  was  to  take  God  as 
the  model  of  'our  life  and  action.  Who  will  deny,  that 
this  proposition,  too,  contains  a  truth,  as  soon  as  we 
have  ascertained,  which  attributes  of  God  we  shall  imi- 
tate ;  otherwise  there  would  be  people,  who  would  choose 
to  imitate  God's  uncompromising  justice  and  absolute 


—  85    — 

power  rather  thau  his  infinite  love  and  mercy.  Others 
have  advanced  still  other  theories  upon  this  subject. 

But  we  Israelites  have  no  need  of  these  philosophical 
niceties  and  distinctions.  We  acknowledge  the  great 
fundamental  principle  of  the  law,  "|1O3  "|jn?  ranxi,  "  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself!"  or  as  Hillel  explains 
it,  T2yn  tib  TOni?  ^D  ^jn,  "  Whatever  is  hateful  to  Thee, 
do  not  perpetrate  against  thy  neighbor,"  with  the  re- 
markable addition,  "  This  is  the  whole  law ;  all  else  is  its 
commentary." 

Selfishness,  therefore,  is  not  only  one  of  the  greatest 
sins,  but  is  the  prolific  source  of  every  species  of  human 
wickedness.  There  is  not  a  vic%  or  a  crime  in  the  whole 
calendar  of  human  aberrations,  that  may  not  be  traced 
back  to  it  as  its  fountain-head.  The  man,  who  respects 
neither  the  property,  nor  the  honor,  nor  the  peace,  nor 
the  life  of  his  neighbor — who  insinuates  himself  into  the 
tender  family  circle,  and  ruthlessly  undermines  the  do- 
mestic peace  and  bliss  of  others,  until  the  beautiful  fab- 
ric of  family  happiness  becomes  a  desolate  ruin — does 
not  such  a  man  unscrupulously  place  his  own  profit  and 
gain,  his  own  satisfaction,  the  gratification  of  his  own  de- 
sires, above  the  prosperity,  the  peace  and  happiness  of 
others  ? 

One  of  the  great  characteristics  of  the  present  day  is 
a  lowness,  a  sordidness,  a  frigidness  of  thought  and  feel- 
ing. Men  think  meanly  of  their  nature,  and  hence  their 
conduct  is  selfish.  We  do  not,  indeed,  see  men  in  gene- 
ral given  up  to  gross  vices.  We  do  not  meet  around  us 
the  ferocity  or  beastly  licentiousness  of  the  savage  state. 
We  find  many  marks  of  improvement,  when  we  compare 
the  present  with  earlier  ages.  But  there  is  little  eleva- 
tion of  sentiment.  Comparatively  few  seem  to  be  con- 
scious of  their  high  origin  and  destiny,  their  capacities 
of  excellence,  their  relations  to  God,  their  interest  in 
eternity. 


—  86  — 

Thanks  to  God,  in  the  history  of  every  age  and  nation, 
amidst  the  ravages  of  ambition  and  the  mean  aims  of 
selfishness,  there  have  broken  forth  nobler  sentiments, 
and  the  evidences  of  a  heavenly  virtue.  Every  age  has 
been  illustrated  by  men,  who  bore  themselves  like  men, 
who  were  animated  "  by  the  spirit  of  God,"  and  vindi- 
cated the  cause  of  humanity — men,  who  in  circumstances 
of  great  trial,  have  adhered  to  moral  and  religious  prin- 
ciple, to  the  cause  of  persecuted  truth — who  have  trod- 
den the  fairest  gifts  of  fortune  and  the  world  in  the  pur- 
suit of  duty.  This  is  the  greatest  value  of  history,  that 
it  introduces  us  to  persons  of  this  illustrious  order ;  and 
its  nobleft  use  is,  by  th^ir  examples  to  nourish  in  us  a 
conviction,  that  elevated  purity  of  motive  and  conduct 
is  not  a  dream  of  fancy,  but  that  it  is  placed  within  our 
reach,  and  is  the  very  end  of  our  being. 


VIII. 


..I 


E  SPIRIT  OF  GOD  IN  MAN," 

A  SERIES  OF  FOUR  SERMONS, 


DELIVERED   AT 


TEMPLE  EMANU-EL. 


2. 

Sabbath,  March   16th,   1872. 


"Take  to  thyself  Joshua,  the  son  of 
Nun,  a  man  in  whom  there  is 
spirit."  (Numbers  xxvii.  18). 

JOSHUA  was  animated  by  a  spirit  of  wisdom,  the  spirit 
of  God,  and  it  was  in  virtue  of  this  attribute  that  he 
was  appointed  as  the  leader  of  Israel's  host,  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  great  man,  Moses.  We  have  seen  in  our 
last  meditation  on  this  subject,  that,  opposed  to  this  spirit 
of  God  in  man,  is  the  human  spirit  manifested  in  selfish- 
ness; that,  prompted  by  this  spirit  of  selfishness,  every 
man  is  apt  to  regard  himself  as  the  centre  of  creation  ; 
but  that  it  is  his  duty  to  overcome  this  spirit  of  selfish- 
ness in  thought,  word  and  action,  by  cultivating  the 
spirit  of  God — that  is,  by  ministering  to  the  happiness 
and  well-being  of  others. 

Now,  in  order  to  discharge  our  duty  in  this  respect, 
in  ample  form,  it  is  not  enough  to  blunt  the  sharpest 
points  of  selfishness,  to  moderate  our  self-love  in  some 
particular  instances— for  in  this  way  no  general  result 
would  be  attained — we  have  to  go  farther,  we  must  apply 
the  axe  to  the  root  of  the  evil,  by  earnestly  endeavoring  to 


—   00  — 

ascertain  for  ourselves  the  place  and  the  claims  to  which 
we  are  entitled  in  the  human  world  around  us.  And  this 
process  must  not  be  conducted  in  a  superficial  way,  by 
putting  a  modest  estimate  on  our  importance  for  the 
little  circle,  in  which  we  live,  but  descending  to  the 
actual  grade  which  we  occupy  in  the  universe. 

The  celebrated  saying,  attributed  to  Thales,  "  Know 
thyself!"  has  a  wider  application  ithan  that,  in  which 
it  is  generally  construed.  For  in  order  to  under- 
stand what  we  actually  are,  we  must  know  others  also. 
The  knowledge  of  the  few  dozen  people,  with  whom  we 
have  intercourse,  and  of  the  city  in  which  we  live,  is 
certainly  of  primary  importance.  But  \ve  must  not  stop 
here.  Let  us  calmly  contemplate  our  vast,  spacious 
globe  with  its  millions  of  human  beings ;  let  us  cast  a 
retrospective  glance  into  the  past,  and  see  what  large 
multitudes  have  been  swept  away — each  generation  con- 
stituting the  whole  of  mankind — as  well  as  look  into  the 
illimitable  future  before  us,  and  think  how  many  genera- 
tions will  yet  come  after  us ; — the  earth  everywhere  and 
at  all  times  an  open,  never  satiated  grave,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  everywhere  and  at  all  times  teeming  with 
new  births  and  productions;  let  us  reflect  how  much 
splendor  and  misery,  how  much  wisdom  and  folly,  how, 
much  virtue  and  vice,  this  earth  has  already  borne  and 
is  yet  destined  to  bear !  And  then  turning  our  eye  from 
this  earth,  which  can  by  no  means  appear  to  us  as  an 
atom,  and  raising  it  to  the  hosts  of  stars  above  us,  we 
reflect  that  all  those  innumerable  orbs  are  immeasm-ably 
larger  spheres  of  divine  providence,  the  habitations  of 
living  and  sentient  beings ;  and  still  to  our  short-sighted 
vision  they  appear  as  infinitesimal  particles  floating  in 
the  immensity  and  infinitude  of  space  !  When  we  reflect 
that  all  these  worlds  count  their  existence  by  thousands 
of  years,  and  will  continue  to  exist  for  thousands  of 


—  91  — 

years,  after  our  bodies  will  have  mouldered  to  dust ;  and 
then,  astounded,  amazed  and  stupified  by  such  a  con- 
templation, we  descend  to  ourselves  and  ask  ourselves 
the  question,  "  What  am  I,  and  how  much  am  I,  a  single, 
frail  and  erring  individual  in  connection  with  this  vast, 
unutterably  vast  sphere  of  beings?" — Will  not  our 
wisdom  thus  discover  a  standard  for  our  littleness  ?  Will 
not  our  pride  be  forced  to  exclaim,  "  How  insignificant 
I  am  compared  with  this  infinitude  !" — And  this  whole 
vast  universe  is  taken  in  by  God  at  a  glance,  and  is 
ruled  by  His  providence  ! 

After  such  a  contemplation  could  we  still  presume  to 
consider  ourselves  a  centre,  around  which  the  whole  world 
revolves — still  cherish  a  desire  of  drawing  all  else  into 
our  individual  sphere,  of  rendering  all  else  subservient 
to  our  selfish  ends  ?  Would  it  not  be  more  natural  and 
more  rational  to  bow  our  head  in  deep  humility,  and 
pray,  "  Father,  I  renounce  my  self-will,  I  wholly  confide 
myself  to  Thee,  to  guide  me  in  Thy  wisdom,  to  assign 
m&  to  the  place  I  am  fitted  for,  to  aid  me  in  applying 
the  powers  and  means,  with  which  Thou  hast  endowed 
me,  to  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  Thy  children." 

In  thus  tearing  the  roots  of  selfishness  from  our  bosom 
and  subordinating  our  will  to  the  will  of  God,  we  give 
evidence  of  being  truly  animated  by  the  spirit  of  God. 

But  the  work  is  to  be  done  thoroughly.  No  bargain- 
ing, no  set-offs,  no  subterfuges,  no  cunning  devices  must 
be  resorted  to.  ."pn^x  'n  DV  n^nn  D'TDn  Complete  as  we 
are,  with  our  plans  and  our  wishes,  our  hopes  and  our 
fears,  our  predilections  and  onr  aversions,  our  strong 
and  our  weak  points,  undivided  and  without  reserve,  we 
must  confide  in  and.  defer  to  God,  if  we  mean  to  obey 
the  promptings  of  the  spirit  of  God  within  us.  The 
spirit  of  God  within  us — for  the  heavenly  voice,  whose 
warnings  and  behests  are  constantly  addressed  to  us,  is 


92  — 


within  our  own  heart.  D3'2n  HE>  nOKOl  CiJKn  N'n  mi  pN 
"  Truly,  says  Job,  there  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the  breath 
of  the  Almighty  giveth  them  understanding."  And  it  is 
precisely  this  spirit,  which  spontaneously  teaches  every 
man,  in  every  grade  and  condition,  how  utterly  insigni- 
ficent,  how  utterly  worthless  he  would  be,  if  isolated 
from  the  rest  of  his  kind,  if  exclusively  bound  up  in  his 
own  selfish  individuality. 

There  are,  indeed,  many  situations  and  occurrences  in 
life,  in  which  the  feeling  of  our  dependence  is  brought 
home  to  us  with  a  crushing  weight. 

We  may  array  ourselves  in  the  most  costly  attire,  with 
gems  and  jewels  sparkling  in  brilliant  profusion  around 
our  persons,  still  it  is  not  only  God  who  knows  and  sees, 
what  Abraham  expressed  in  sincere  humility,  "that  we 
are  but  dust  and  ashes  "  —  but  we  shall  feel  it  ourselves, 
at  times  most  inconvenient  and  unseasonable. 

We  may  fancy  ourselves  to  possess  the  highest  culture, 
the  most  refined  taste,  the  most  penetrating  understand- 
ing, still  th<;re  are  moments,  in  which  we  are  forced  to 
confess  that  our  counsel  is  at  fault,  that  all  our  wisdom 
is  of  no  avail. 

We  may  heap  treasures  of  gold  mountain  high,  "join 
house  on  house,  bring  field  near  to  field,  till  there  is  no 
more  room,"  —  still  with  all  our  wealth  we  are  not  able 
to  purchase  exemption  from  sickness,  to  secure  perennial 
health. 

We  may  command  a  host  of  servants,  ministering  to 
our  comfort,  attending  to  our  wants,  enabling  us  to  pass 
a  life  of  languid  ease,  of  luxurious  indolence  —  still  we 
shall  be  compelled  to  undergo  some  indispensable  per- 
sonal exertion. 

And  who  does  not  know,  although  he  may  seldom 
think  of  it,  that  one  day,  sooner  or  later,  each  one  of  us 
must  meet  the  awful  change,  must  submit  to  the  unL 


—  93  — 

versal  law,  from  which  even  a  Moses  was  not  exempt, 
which  consigns  all  that  is  mortal  to  decay  and  to  death, 
and  Which  summons  his  immortal  soul  to  the  bar  of 
eternity !  And  as  neither  ornate  finery  nor  wealth, 
neither  accomplishments  nor  culture,  neither  rank  nor 
station,  can  save  us  from  this  impending  doom,  these 
things  will,  in  like  manner,  neither  precede  nor  follow  us 
to  our  eternal  home,  in  order  to  plead  for  us,  to  assert 
there  our  claims  to  distinction  and  superiority. 

But  there  is  something  which  will  precede  us,  which 
will  plead  our  cause  with  imperishable  eloquence  and 
power.  IplV  fish  "j^m,  "Thy  righteousness  will  go  before 
thee."  The  good  deeds  which  thou  hast  performed,  will 
testify  in  thy  favor  to  all  eternity.  And  these  good 
deeds,  in  order  to  be  genuine,  must  flow  from  the  spirit 
of  God  within  us. 

There  are  many  deeds  performed  by  man  which  are 
but  specious  counterfeits  of  real  goodness,  hypocritical 
devices  to  cover  up  actual  moral  obliquity.  Who  of  you 
does  not  call  to  mind  the  occasional  munificent  charities 
of  a  once  all-powerful,  but  now  spotted  and  degraded 
politician  of  this  city,  paraded  before  the  public  eye  with 
all  the  dazzling  splendor  of  immaculate  goodness  and 
righteousness.  Were  not  these  charities  the  wages  of 
corruption,  designed  to  promote  the  selfish  ends  of  their 
author?  It  argues  well  for  human  nature  to  look  upon 
the  effect  and  not  upon  the  motive  of  deeds  of  charity. 
Hut  when  the  crafty  hypocrite  stands  unmasked  before 
us  in  all  the  hideousness  of  his  unrighteous,  selfish  mani- 
pulations, his  charities  are  without  intrinsic  value,  and 
can  only  serve  "  to  point  out  a  moral  and  adorn  a — 
sermon."  Charity  of  this  kind  is  aptly  compared  in  the 
Talmud  1T3  p'jn  ^>31B  to  a  man,  who  performs  the  levi- 
tical  ablution,  while  persistently  grasping  the  unclean 
reptile,  by  which  he  was  defiled. 


94  

The  only  true  standard,  by  which  our  good  deeds  can 
be  gauged,  is  the  absence  of  selfishness.  In  looking 
around  and  above  us  with  an  intelligent  eye,  we  must 
become  aware  of  our  individual  insignificance,  and  that 
we  are  by  no  means  the  centre,  around  which  the  whole 
world  revolves ;  we  must  gain  the  conviction  that  we 
are  but  satellites  of  the  only  great  centre,  around  which 
all  worlds  and  all  created  beings  are  revolving.  And 
this  great  centre  is  God,  whose  spirit  animates  our  being. 
Let  us  listen  to  the  voice  of  this  spirit  within  us,  and 
our  duties  will  be  faithfully  discharged,  our  task  upon 
earth  be  accomplished  for  our  own  good  and  the  happi- 
ness of  others. 


IX. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  GOD  IN  MAN," 

A  SERIES  OF  FOUR  SERMONS, 

DELIVERED  AT 

TEMPLE   EMANU-EL. 


3. 

Sabbath,  March  3Oth,  1872. 


Take  to  thyself  Joshua,  the  Son 
of  Nun,  a  man  in  whom  there 
is  spirit.  (N  umbers  xxvn,  18). 

TN  my  last  two  expositions  of  this  text,  I  have  endeav- 
-^  ored  to  define  the  term  rm  or  spirit,  the  possession 
of  which  qualified  Joshua,  in  an  eminent  degree,  to  suc- 
ceed his  great  master  as  leader  of  the  people,  to  marshal 
their  hosts  for  the  occupation  of  the  promised  land.  I 
have  tried  to  show,  that  every  man  is  endowed  with  this 
spirit  of  God,  to  whose  voice  he  must  listen,  in  order  to 
overcome  the  spirit  of  selfishness,  which  is  lurking  in 
the  human  heart;  I  have  endeavored,  to  expose  the 
fallacy  of  the  wide-spread  phenomenon,  according  to 
which  every  man  is  apt,  to  regard  himself  as  the  centre, 
around  which  the  whole  world  is  revolving ;  and  have 
drawn  the  irresistible  conclusion,  that  only  those  deeds, 
which  are  devoid  of  selfish  motives  and  ends  are  ema- 
nations of  the  spirit  of  God  within  us,  are  entitled  to  be 
characterized  as  good  and  noble. 

It  is  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  the  spirit  of  selfishness, 
that  we  meet  with  so  little  elevation  of  sentiment,  and 

7 


—  98  — 

that  comparatively  few  seem  to  be  conscious  of  their 
high  origin  and  destiny,  their  capacities  of  excellence, 
their  relation  to  God,  their  interest  in  eternity. 

The  spirit  of  God,  which  is  operative  in  man  and  by 
the  prompting  of  which  all  that  is  good,  great  and  noble 
is  accomplished,  the  spirit  of  philanthropy  and  love,  is 
confined  to  neither  age,  country  or  people,  but  is  active, 
though  in  a  limited  degree  and  in  isolated  instances,  at 
all  times  and  in  every  place.  Judaism  does  not  favor 
pessimism;  it  abhors  the  idea  of  general  depravity  or  ori- 
ginal sin,  but  emphaticaly  teaches  the  God-like  character 
of  the  human  soul.  Hence  we  are  justified  in  assuming, 
that  the  spirit  of  God  is  revealed  and  is  manifested 
through  man,  just  as  much  in  our  day,  as  at  any  previous 
period  of  history.  We  easily  recognize  this  spirit  by  its 
reverse.  Every  manifestation  or  action,  which  excludes 
selfishness,  is  the  product  of  this  spirit ;  but  wherever 
selfishness  predominates,  you  look  in  vain  for  this  spirit, 
for  it  is  wanting. 

Let  us  illustrate  this  proposition  by  a  few  examples. 

The  spirit  of  God  is  called  the  spirit  of  wisdom.  What 
is  wisdom  ?  It  is  the  choice  of  laudable  ends  and  of  the 
best  means  to  accomplish  them.  Its  scope  is  not  limited 
to  the  individual,  but  embraces  the  welfare  of  the  whole; 
is  not  bounded  by  our  temporal  existence,  but  includes 
time  and  eternity.  While  estimating  material  advantages 
and  possessions  at  their  comparative  value,  it  is  the  chief 
aim  of  wisdom,  to  promote  the  intellectual  and  moral 
growth  of  mankind,  its  end  the  foundation  of  general 
good.  The  spirit  of  wisdom  is  essentially  the  spirit  of 
benevolence. 

Now  contrast  with  this  spirit  of  wisdom,  the  spint  of 
worldly  prudence,  by  which  most  people  are  animated 
and  which  they  apply  to  practice — a  spirit  which  sternly 
asserts  individual  claims  and  rigidly  aims  at  securing 


—  99  — 

selfish  ends — and  you  will  no  longer  be  at  a  loss,  to  dis- 
cern the  spirit  of  God,  that  should  be  reflected  in  our 
works.  The  prudent  man  may  be  just  and  moral,  and 
yet  be  far  from  being  benevolent  and  religious. 

Justice  differs  from  benevolence,  not  in  its  nature,  but 
in  the  circumstances,  under  which  it  is  exercised.  Both 
justice  and  benevolence  have  the  same  object,  the  general 
good ;  but  justice  is  limited  to  those  cases  where  public 
good  prescribes  a  clear,  pre'cise  and  unchanging  course 
of  action ;  while  benevolence  or  its  daughter — mercy,  is 
exercised  in  circumstances,  to  which  no  definite  rules  can 
be  applied,  and  in  which  the  general  good  requires,  that 
the  individual  should  be  left  to  his  own  judgment  and 
discretion.  Thus  true  justice  is  something  more  than 
that  petty  honesty,  which  seeks  nothing  but  self,  and 
which  is  contented  with  regarding  such  established  prin- 
ciples as  cannot  be  violated  without  incurring  punishment 
or  disgrace.  The  whole  nature  of  justice  is  impartial, 
diffusive  benevolence. 

It  may  be  observed,  that,  if  it  be  the  nature  of  justice 
to  avoid,  whatever  is  clearly  opposed  to  our  neighbor,  it 
is  unjust,  in  our  dealings  with  others,  to  desire  and  seek 
more  than  the  value  of  our  services  and  commodities. 
Mutual  benefit  is  the  object  of  all  human  relations,  the 
very  end  of  trade  or  commerce.  We  know,  when  our 
neighbor  contracts  with  us,  that  he  expects  an  equivalent. 
We  know,  that  he  renders  his  services,  or  makes  a  trans- 
fer of  his  property  for  some  adequate  valuable  conside- 
ration, and  we  have  no  right  to  offer  as  an  equivalent, 
what  we  certainly  know  bears  no  proportion  to  the  ser- 
vices he  renders  or  the  property  he  transfers.  A  just 
man,  animated  by  the  spirit  of  God,  will  never  lose  sight 
of  the  interests  of  his  neighbor.  He  will  not,  indeed, 
feel  himself  bound,  to  take  the  same  care  of  another's 
property  and  interests  as  of  his  own — for  this  is  imprac- 


—  100  — 

ticable.  He  will  suppose,  that  every  man,  who  possesses 
common  understanding,  knows  best  his  own  interests, 
and  on  this  ground  he  will  deal  with  him.  But  when 
he  certainly  knows,  that  his  neighbor  is  injuring  himself, 
that  a  proposed  contract  cannot  be  attended  with  mutual 
benefit,  he  has  no  right  to  presume  that  his  neighbor  is 
taking  care  of  himself ;  he  has  no  right  to  be  determined 
upon  realizing  the  fruits  of  his  shrewd  and  sharp  transac- 
tion. As  surely  as  he  regards  the  rights  of  others,  he 
will  feel,  that  he  has  no  right  to  offer  as  an  equivalent, 
what  he  knows  has  no  proportionate  value. 

Yes,  it  is  but  too  true,  that  justice  unconnected  with 
benevolence  is  not  worth  possessing.  It  is  the  growth 
of  selfishness,  and  knaves  may  boast  of  it.  That  man, 
who  makes  his  own  private  interest  supreme — who  mo- 
nopolises all  honors,  emoluments  and  profits  that  apper- 
tain to  his  province — who  cares  not  how  much  his  neigh- 
bor suffers,  if  only  his  individual  interests  be  advanced, 
— who  can  take  pleasure  in  gains  which,  he  knows,  are 
necessarily  connected  with  the  loss  and  injury  of  others — 
who,  under  pretence  of  leaving  his  neighbor  to  provide 
for  himself,  will  impose  upon  him  as  an  equivalent,  what 
he  knows  to  be  worth  nothing  :  that  man  may  talk  of 
integrity,  and  hold  high  his  head  in  a  prudent,  mercenary 
world,  but  he  knows  not  the  meaning  of  justice.  He 
never  felt  that  generous  regard  to  right,  that  noble  ap- 
preciation of  religion  and  benevolence,  which  is  of  more 
worth  and  confers  more  happiness  than  all  the  gains  of 
selfishness. 

If  such  be  perfect  justice,  so  incorruptible,  what  reason 
have  we  to  fear,  that  there  is  little  of  this  principle,  when 
we  see  the  expedients  and  precautions,  which  are  adopted 
to  prevent  men  from  abusing  a  trifling  or  important  trust, 
from  sacrificing  the  interests  of  their  neighbor  to  a  trifling 
or  important  gain  !  We  carry  our  own  shame  on  our 


—    101    — 

own  foreheads.  Most  of  our  civil  institutions  grow  out 
of  our  corruptions  and  delinquencies.  We  cannot  live 
without  mutual  dependence,  and  yet  we  are  forced,  to 
hedge  each  other  round,  to  bind  and  shackle  each  other, 
to  institute  inquiries  and  to  watch  with  anxious  caution, 
less  we  should  abuse  each  other's  necessities,  and  take 
advantage  of  trust,  to  betray  it.  At  this  very  moment, 
here  and  elsewhere  throughout  the  country,  in  the  Gene- 
ral, the  State  and  Municipal  government,  active  investi- 
gations .are  carried  on,  to  ascertain,  to  what  an  extent 
the  public  functionaries  have  betrayed  the  various  trusts 
confided  to  them.  Yes,  is  it  not  suggestive,  is  it  not 
humiliating,  that  a  necessity  existed  for  the  appointment 
of  a  "  Committee  on  Frauds  ?  " — If  men  were,  what  they 
should  be,  if  all  were  animated  by  the  true  spirit,  we  should 
find  in  every  man  a  guardian,  instead  of  an  invader  of 
our  rights  and  interests.  We  should  want  no  better  se- 
curity than  our  neighbor's  word,  and  no  better  witness 
than  our  neighbor's  conscience.  Imagination  dwells 
with  delight  on  this  state  of  peaceful,  unsuspicious,  un- 
disturbed enjoyment.  Is  it  never  to  be  made  a  reality  ? 
Will  the  era  never  dawn  on  the  horizon  of  man,  of  which 
the  prophet  speaks,  '6?ap  "in  hi  wne»  i^l  ijrv  &6,  "They 
shall  do  no  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy  mountain, 
saith  the  Lord — ?  " 

It  is  the  glorious  design  of  civil  institutions  to  con- 
centre public  strength  in  support  of  individual  right,  to 
guard  the  interests  of  the  feeble  by  the  majesty  of  the 
State.  But  no  government  can  fully  accomplish  the  end 
of  its  institution.  No  outward  penalties  can  supply  the 
place  of  an  inward  principle  of  benevolence,  of  genuine 
religion.  They,  who  have  power,  can  always  find  some 
opportunity  of  abusing  it.  Judaism,  the  exponent  of 
true  religion,  an  emanation  from  God,  'emphatically 
holds,  DY1D  mo  IT  -pS?  "1^  *bv  ^V  ^OiNH  "whoever  saith: 


—  102  — 

What  is  mine,  is  mine;  and  what  is  thine,  is  thine ; 
pronounces  a  doctrine  of  Sodom."  True  religion  forbids 
us,  to  abuse  any  circumstance,  which  puts  our  neighbor 
in  our  power,  or  to  extort  his  consent  to  injurious  meas- 
ures, or  to  reduce  him  to  the  necessity  of  sacrificing  his 
property,  by  threatening  him  with  evils,  to  which  we 
are  able  to  expose  him.  It  recommends  the  weak  and 
poor  to  our  protection.  It  renders  the  defenceless  hovel 
of  poverty  as  sacred  as  the  palace  of  affluence.  It  makes 
the  cause  of  the  oppressed  our  own,  and  animates  us 
with  generous  zeal,  to  rescue  the  helpless  from  the  grasp 
of  the  oppressor.  It  calls  on  us,  to  frown  on  the  base,  to 
separate  ourselves  from  their  fellowship  JH  pK>»  pmn  to 
keep  none  of  their  counsels,  to  follow  none  of  their 
examples.  Men  are  prone  to  stoop  to  successful  villany. 
They  seem  to  forget  the  steps,  -by  which  wicked  men 
have  ascended  to  eminence.  They  have  only  eyes  for 
the  outward  splendor  and  seeming  prosperity,  in  which 
successful  villany  is  revelling.  But  the  spirit  of  God 
within  man  is  inflexible.  It  can  give  no  countenance  to 
dishonesty  and  wrong.  It  looks  through  the  false  splen- 
dor, with  which  the  selfish  are  surrounded,  and  sees  and 
detests  their  baseness. 

A  man  animated  by  this  spirit  takes  a  firm,  elevated 
Around.  He  does  not  cling  to  every  shadow  of  right. 
He  does  not  take  advantage  of  ambiguity  of  expression, 
to  beat  down  what  he  knows  to  be  a  substantial  claim. 
He  does  not  abuse  the  ignorance  of  his  neighbor  and 
uphold,  by  legal  subleties,  an  unfounded  demand.  He 
does  not  press  even  his  undoubted  rights  too  close,  lest 
he  should  border  upon  injustice.  He  reverences  the  laws, 
as  they  are  the  guardians  of  right.  He  holds  nothing 
merely  because  the  laws  do  not  take  it  away.  He  seizes 
nothing  merely  because  the  laws  do  not  prohibit  it.  His 
motto  is  not :  I  will  take  all  the  law  allows  me.  He 


—   103   — 

considers,  that  laws  do  not  create  right,  that  there  are 
eternal  principles  of  truth  and  rectitude,  to  which  all 
civil  laws  must  be  reduced  as  their  standard  ;  and  to  the 
spirit  planted  by  God  in  the  human  heart  and  revealed 
in  His  holy  word,  he  refers  all  his  actions,  which  relate 
to  his  dealings  and  his  intercourse  with  othei-s. 

There  is  a  natural  law,  that  whatever  belongs  to  the 
earth,  presses  towards  its  centre.  You  may  pick  up  a 
stone,  and  fling  it  high  in  the  air — it  is  sure  to  fall  back 
to  the  ground,  from  which  is  was  taken.  A  mysterious 
force  in  the  dark  bosom  of  the  earth  irresistibly  draws  it 
down,  as  it  attracts  every  object  and  every  particle,  that 
belongs  to  the  earth.  In  a  similar  way  does  selfishness 
act  in  man.  It  is  the  power  of  gravitation  in  the  human 
heart,  a  power,  which,  if  left  uncontrolled,  wouM  fain 
attract  to  its  centre  all  earthly  objects,  means  and  ap- 
pliances and  hold  them  fast  with  iron  bands.  Selfishness 
is  thus  synonymous  with  darkness  of  soul,  frigidity  of 
heart,  spiritual  death. 

But  there  is  another  law  of  nature,  which  governs  the 
operations  of  light.  Its  power  is  not  exerted  in  drawing 
all  things  to  its  centre,  but  is,  on  the  contrary,  mani- 
fested, by  shedding  its  rays,  and  pouring  its  warmth  on 
all  objects  within  its  reach.  This  power  preeminently, 
exclusively  resides  in  the  spirit  of  God  within  man.  It 
is  manifested  in  our  diffusing  the  light  of  knowledge,  in 
our  pouring  forth  the  warming  rays  of  sympathy,  of 
virtue,  of  benevolence,  of  true  religion.  It  does  not  con- 
tract, but  expands  the  heart,  inuring  it  to  all  that  is 
good,  and  true,  and  noble,  and  divine.  (),  that  such  a 
light  would  burn  in  every  heart.  "  Would  to  God,  that  the 
whole  people  were  prophets,  that  the  Lord  would  en- 
dow them  with  His  spirit.'2 


,, 


X. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  GOD  IN  MAN," 

A  SERIES  OF  FOUR  SERMONS, 

DELIVERED  AT 

TEMPLE   EMANU-EL. 


4. 

Sabbath,  April  13th,  1872. 


"  Take  unto  thyself  Joshua,  the  son  of 
Nun,  a  man  in  whom  there  is 
spirit."  (Numbers  xxvii.,  18.) 

r|MIESE  words,  which  thrice  constituted  the  basis  of 
-•-  our  meditation,  force  themselves  upon  our  particu- 
lar attention  to-day,  by  the  Haphtarah,  which  has  been 
read  to  iis,  how  Joshua,  a  man  in  whom  there  was 
spirit,  the  true  spirit  of  God,  prepared  himself  for  the 
last  hour. 

After  a  long  career  of  victorious  warfare,  followed  by 
an  old  age  of  comparative  repose,  during  which,  upon 
his  estate  at  Timnath  Serach,  in  the  mountains  of 
Ephraim,  he  was  permitted  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  the 
land  he  had  conquered,  Joshua  consciously  drew  nigh  to 
the  term  of  his  existence  and,  like  Moses,  determined  to 
give  to  the  assembled  Israelites  the  advantage  of  his 
parting  counsels.  The  tribes  were  convened  at  Shechem, 
where  the  Tabernacle  at  this  time  seems  to  have  been, 
and  where,  on  a  former  occasion,  between  the  mountains 
of  Ebal  and  Gerizzim,  they  had  entered  into  covenant 
with  God.  Nothing  can  be  conceived,  more  impressive 


—   108  — 

or  sublime,  than  the  circumstance  of  this  last  public  in- 
terview of  the  a'ged  leader  with  the  people,  whom  he 
had  put  in  possession  of  the  goodly  promised  land,  and 
,  who  had  so  often  followed  him  in  his  victorious  path. 
In  the  midst  of  the  elders,  the  chiefs,  and  magistrates  of 
Israel,  surrounded  by  a  respectful  people,  their  illustri- 
ous and  venerable  commander — the  oldest  man  in  the 
nation — spoke  to  them  as  to  his  sons.  And  of  what  did 
he  speak  ?  He  was  a  soldier,  and  his  career  had  been 
essentially  military ;  but  he  spoke  to  them,  not  of  con- 
quest— the  sound  of  the  trumpet  and  the  gleam  of  the 
-sword  cannot  be  recognized  in  his  address — but  of  the 
holiness  and  the  obedience  which  became  the  people  of 
God.  It  is  such  a  discourse  as  a  patriarch  might  have 
given  on  his  death-bed,  or  a  prophet  might  have  uttered 
from  the  valley  of  the  vision.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in 
modern  history,  except  the  prophetic  and  inspired  Fare- 
well Address  of  our  immortal  Washington. 

He  called  to  mind  the  benefits,  which,  age  after  age, 
had  been  showered  upon  the  race  of  Abraham;  he  hum-  . 
bly  summed  up  the  victories  to  which  he  had  himself  led 
them,  in  a  single  allusion ;  and  concluded,  with  the  im- 
pressive words,  "  Choose  ye,  this  day,  whom  ye  will 
serve ;  but  as  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the 
Lord."  The  entire  people,  writh  one  voice,  responded  to 
this  call  by  loud  and  hearty  declarations  of  their  deter- 
mined faithfulness  to  their  covenant  with  God.  And 
the  aged  Joshua,  after  he  had  written  these  words  in  the 
book  of  the  law,  deposited  in  the  ark,  set  up  a  stone 
under  a  tree  that  grew  near  the  Tabernacle,  as  a  memo- 
rial of  the  renewal  of  the  covenant.  His  work,  both  of 
war  and  of  peace,  was  then  done.  He  could  now  lay 
down  his  head  and  die  in  thankful  peace. 

My  friends,  whoever  can  act,  whoever  can  speak  thus 
in  the  last  hours  of  his  earthly  career,  must  have  lived  a 


—  109  — 

life,  in  accordance  with  the  promptings  of  the  "  spirit  of 
God  "  within  him.  No  fear,  no  misgiving,  no  terror, 
can  shake  his  equanimity.  With  a  serene  calm,  with_ji 
settled  composure,  with  a  holy  peace,  he  bids  adieu  to 
the  world ;  and  the  more  rationally  he  may  have  loved 
the  world,  the  more  tenderly  he  may  have  been  attached 
to  his  fellow-men,  the  more  calmly  he  will  depart. 

The  world  I — What  is  comprehended  in  this  term  ? — 
In  its  current  application,  the  world  is  employed  to  des- 
ignate the  goods  and  pleasures  of  the  earth,  in  so  far  as 
they  gratify  the  senses  more  than  the  spirit.  Whoever 
finds  delight  in  the  goods  and  pleasures  of  the  earth, 
and  strives  to  obtain  the  first,  and  to  enjoy  the  last — of 
him  we  say,  that  he  loves  the  world. 

Is  it  our  duty,  or  is  it  a  sin,  to  love  the  world  ? — In 
former  times  there  were  many  people,  who  withdrew 
from  the  world,  and  retired  into  solitude — from  piety \ 
They  hated  the  world,  scornfully  spurned  its  goods,  and 
disdained  its  pleasures.  It  would  be  difficult,  to  find  a 
satisfactory  answer  to  the  question  :  What  did  these 
people  want  upon  earth — what  did  they  wish  to  accom- 
plish for  the  good  of  mankind  ?  As  far  as  Judaism  is 
concerned,  neither  the  Mosaic  nor  the  prophetical  books, 
neither  the  Talmud  nor  any  rabbinical  writings,  attach 
the  least  merit,  the  least  religious  value,  to  a  withdrawal 
from  the  active  scenes  of  life.  Judaism,  on  the  contrary, 
insists  upon  an  active  intermingling  with  the  world,  to 
develop  our  powers  and  faculties  for  our  own  good,  and 
for  the  benefit  of  our  fellow-men.  It  is  opposed  to  a 
sanctimonious,  morose,  misanthropical  view  of  life.  It 
recommends  cheerfulness.  It  says,  nnotja  'n  nx  nay 
"  Serve  ye  the  Lord  with  joy !"  "pn»  N^K  rrnv  nrspn  ps 
nnOK'.  ^  "  The  spirit  of  God  only  abides  in  a  cheerful 
heart."  It  does  not  denounce  the  love  of  the  world, 
provided  our  aspirations  and  indulgences  are  kept  within 
reasonable,  within  rational  bounds. 


—   110  — 

For  whom  can  the  earth  have  its  treasures,  and  the 
world  its  joys?  For  whom  is  nature  renewed  in  her 
smiling  vernal  attire  ?  For  whom  do  the  trees  yield 
their  fruit — the  olive  its  fatness — the  vine  its  juice  ?  Is 
it  to  rejoice  the  beasts  of  the  field?  No,  no,  you  may 
love  the  world — but  you  shall  love  it  rationally,  appre- 
ciate it  correctly,  and  indulge  in  wise  moderation.  And. 
this  you  are  sure  to  do,  when  you  consider,  that  the 
treasures  and  joys  of  the  world  are  gifts  of  God  and, 
hence,  are  designed  to  subserve  wise  and  good  purposes. 
There  is  no  absolute  evil.  Even  the  poisons  in  nature 
are  good  in  themselves.  Wisely  chosen,  compounded 
and  administered  by  the  skilful  physician,  they  produce 
a  salutary  effect.  Injudiciously  used,  they  kill,  instead 
of  preserving  life.  And  that  is  precisely  the  case  with 
the  treasures  and  pleasures  of  the  world.  You  may 
strive  for  possession  with  prudent  care,  with  wise  dis- 
cretion ;  you  may  indulge  with  rational  moderation  :  the 
possession  will  thus  be  meritorious  and  laudable — the 
enjoyments  have  a  salutary  effect.  Such  is  the  language 
of  Judaism,  such  is  the  language  of  reason. 

And  it  says  further :  The  world,  with  all  its  treasures, 
its  pleasures  and  its  glories,  will  pass  away.  No  earthly 
good  endures,  no  earthly  joy  is  lasting — only  the  gains 
and  joys  of  the  spirit  will  endure  forever.  Whatever  of 
an  earthly  nature  we  possess  or  enjoy,  is  subject  to  change 
and  decay.  D^ljmTin  ^6a.  Ask  your  own  experience.  Many 
a  one  entered  the  arena  of  life,  under  the  bright  rays  of 
a  glorious  morning  sun,  but  before  he  had  yet  reached 
noon,  the  horizon  was  covered  with  thick  clouds,  and 
the  sky  became  dark  and  gloomy.  Many  a  tender  babe, 
tenderly  nursed  by  delicate  hands,  surrounded  by  lux- 
ury, pampered  by  indulgence  the  most  exquisite— but  a 
few  short  years  had  passed,  when  the  boy  or  the  maiden 
was  exposed  to  pinching  want,  because  fortune,  in  her 


—  Ill  — 

fickleness,  had  turned  her  back  upon  the  parents,  and 
surrendered  the  children  to  the  rough  usage,  to  the  cold 
charities  of  the  world.  Who,  therefore,  does  not  per- 
c'eive  the  instability,  the  precarious  tenure,  by  which  we 
hold  and  enjoy  all  that  is  earthly,  and  appreciate  the 
world  according  to  its  true  value  ?  Who  would  build 
upon  sand,  when  he  can  chose  a  firm,  solid  foundation  ? 
Judaism  further  says — in  full  harmony  with  reason  — 
Since  all  the  possessions  and  enjoyments  of  life  come 
from  God,  you  may  wisely  enjoy  them,  and  render 
thanks  to  God.  T^X  'n  n«  DDnni  njnsn  rtaxi.  But  in  what 
way  can  we  best  express  our  gratitude  to  God  ?  Is  it 
by  thanks,  couched  in  words  of  prayer  ?  Is  the  offering 
of  grace,  before  or  after  meal,  sufficient  acknowledgment 
for  the  abundance,  with  which  God  has  blessed  us? 
Prayer,  it  is  true,  is  a  gratifying,  a  salutary  exercise, 
most  natural  to  the  man  endowed  with  the  spirit  of 
God.  In  prayer,  we  become  more  fully  conscious  of  the 
grateful  thoughts  and  feelings,  which  animate  our 
bosom.  Prayer,  therefore,  should  constitute  a  regular, 
sacred  family  practice  in  every  Jewish  home.  But  our 
gratitude  to  God  for  the  blessings  we  enjoy  is  not  to 
be  limited  to  fine  sentiments,  nor  to  beautifully  turned 
words.  It  finds  its  true  expression  in  deeds.  When  we 
console  the  afflicted  ;  when  we  dry  the  tears  of  the  un- 
fortunate ;  when  we  soothe  the  wounds  of  hearts  lacer- 
ated by  grief ;  when  we  feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the 
naked,  relieve  the  oppressed;  when  we  aid  and  support, 
whenever  our  aid  and  support  can  sustain  the  tottering 
and  falling ;  when  we  distribute  from  our  abundance,  to 
chase  away  the  ghastly  spectres  of  want  and  misery 
from  the  fireside  of  the  poor — then,  and  then  only,  do 
we  express  genuine  gratitude  to  God  for  the  blessings 
we  enjoy.  We  cease  to  be  men,  and  become  minis- 
tering angels  on  God's  beautiful  earth.  Our  earthly 


—  112  — 

treasures  cease  to  be  dross  and  sordid  pelf,  but  are 
transformed  into- treasures  of  heaven,  because  they  ena- 
ble us  to  perform  God-like  offices  upon  earth. 

Active  benevolence  and  charity  is  one  of  those  virt- 
ues, of  which,  the  Mishnah  says,  we  enjoy  the  fruits  in 
this  life,  while  the  principal  remains  unimpaired  for  the 
life  hereafter.  The  Jubilee  of  charity,  celebrated  a  few 
evenings  ago,  affords  a  practical  illustration  of  this  doc- 
trine. Whose  heart  was  not  touched  by  genuine  satis- 
faction, was  not  filled  with  a  holy  joy,  on  reflecting,  that 
hundreds  of  helpless,  innocent  orphans,  are  tenderly 
cared  for,  and  prepared  for  the  battle  of  life  by  the 
provident  hand  of  charity  ?  It  was,  indeed,  enjoying 
the  fruit  of  your  benefaction.  The  words  cheerily  sung 
forth  by  the  shrill  voices  of  your  beneficiaries  could  not 
but  have  impressed  themselves  upon  the  assembled  mul- 
titude : — 

Where  the  shelterless 

Standeth  comfortless, 
Let  thine  eye  in  loving  kindness  turn  ; 

To  the  motherless, 

Ne'er  be  pitiless — 
Let  thy  heart  and  hand  with  blessings  burn  ; 

Through  the  wilderness, 

Streams  of  tenderness 
Pour  from  out  thy  fountain's  full  supply  ; 

All  the  wretchedness 

Turn  to  blessedness, 
So  shalt  thou  receive  reward  on  high. 

No,  no,  the  idea  of  parting  with  the  world,  its  pos- 
sessions and  its  pleasures,  never  causes  disquietude  to 
him,  who  has  estimated  them  at  their  true  value.  The 
enjoyments  of  earth  have  not  rendered  him  a  slave,  the 
possession  of  its  treasures  have  not  exclusively  en- 
grossed his  heart.  He  has  tasted,  in  wise  moderation, 


—    113 


the  one  and  made  a  rational  use  of  the  other.  This  con- 
viction stands  at  his  side,  like  an  angel  of  light,  breath- 
ing comfort,  peace  and  hope  into  the  soul,  wheii  soaring 
aloft  to  the  regions  of  immortality. 


XI. 
ORATION 

Delivered  at  the  Laying  of  the  Comer-Stone 

OF   THE 

HOME  FOR  JEWISH*  WIDOWS  AND    ORPHANS 

OF  NEW  ORLEANS, 

August    7th,    1855. 


T  ADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :—  A  solemn  and  in- 
-*-^  teresting  ceremony  has  been  performed ;  the  corner- 
stone of  an  edifice  devoted  to  the  objects  of  charity  and 
benevolence  has  been  laid.  The  superstructure  to  be 
raised  on  this  foundation  will  be  a  noble  monument  to 
the  undying  generous  impulses  of  humanity  that 
prompted  this  sacred  enterprise ;  to  the  unflagging  /eal 
which  hastened  it  to  a  successful  issue.  We  have  as- 
sembled to  celebrate  the  triumph  of  philanthropy  over 
selfishness ;  of  active  benevolence  over  grasping  avarice ; 
of  diffusive  sympathy  with  the  condition  of  our  fellow- 
beings  over  callous  and  soul-cramping  indifference. 
Works  like  this  are  calculated  to  redeem  the  character 
of  our  age,  and  bespeak  for  it  the  veneration  and  regard 
of  succeeding  generations.  Works  like  this  bear  testi- 
mony that  material  tendencies,  immoderate  love  of  lucre 
and  flinty  selfishness  do  not  form  the  exclusive  character- 
istics of  our  community ;  but  that  the  founders  of  this 


—   118  — 

institution  are  fully  alive  to  the  claims  of  humanity,  and 
are  ready,  to  the  extent  of  their  power,  to  alleviate  the 
sufferings  and  lighten  the  burden  of  distress,  by  which 
they  are  surrounded. 

However  numerous  the  benevolent  institutions  of  our 
city  may  be,  however  various  their  objects,  and  however 
liberally  supported,  still  a  serious  void  has  been  most 
sensibly  felt  for  some  time  past.  By  degrees  the  de- 
sideratum, at  fifst  but  casually  hinted  at,  aroused  a 
general  and  most  lively  interest — a  noble  enthusiasm 
fanned  the  glimmering  sparks  into  a  bright  burning  flame 
— the  scattered  forces  assembled  in  public  meeting — 
diverging  sentiments  and  views  were  made  to  harmonize 
— a  well-digested  plan  was  adopted — an  association  or- 
ganized and  incorporated — and,  thanks  to  the  well- 
directed  efforts  of  the  energetic  President  and  his  no  less 
energetic  coadjutors,  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Asso 
ciation — thanks  to  the  willing  sacrifices  of  the  community 
at  large,  we  have  this  day  had  the  gratification  of  laying 
the  corner-stone  of  "  The  Home  for  Jewish  Widows  and 
Orphans  of  New  Orleans." 

There  is  nothing  in  which  the  moderns  claim  more 
conspicuously  to  surpass  the  ancients  than  in  the  noble 
provisions  for  the  relief  of  indigence  and  distress.  The 
public  policy  of  the  ancients  seems  to  have  embraced 
only  whatever  might  promote  the  aggrandizement  or  the 
direct  prosperity  of  the  State,  and  to  have  cared  little 
for  those  unfortunate  beings  who,  from  poverty  or  inca- 
pacity of  any  kind,  were  disqualified  from  contributing 
to  this.  Their  cultivation  of  the  fine  arts  may  be  said 
in  the  language  of  their  own  poet, 

•'  Ingenuas  didicisse  fideliter  artes, 
Emolli'i  mores,  nee  sinit  esse  feros," 

to  have  softened  their  manner's,  and  to  have  reclaimed 
them  from  barbarity ;  yet  that  beautiful  line,  Homo  sum, 


—  119  — 

nil  humani  a  me  cdienum  pwto  !  "  I  am  a  man  and  deem 
myself  affected  by  whatever  pertains  to  humanity  "- 
although  greeted  with  one  spontaneous  burst  of  applause 
by  the  assembled  multitude,  appears  to  have  been  ad- 
mired as  a  fine  sentiment,  but  failed  to  be  recognized  as 
a  rule  of  action  in  the  varied  interests  and  wants  of 
society  But  the  beneficent  influence  of  Scriptural  ethics, 
combined  with  the  general  tendency  of  our  social  insti- 
tutions, has  led  to  the  recognition  of  rights  in  the  indi- 
vidual as  sacred  as  those  of  the  community,  and  has 
suggested  manifold  provisions  for  personal  comfort  and 
happiness.  The  spirit  of  benevolence  and  philanthropy 
is  coeval  with  the  origin  of  the  Bible.  The  Law,  the 
Prophets  and  the  Sacred  Writings  enforce  it  on  their 
every  page.  The  more  widely  and  sincerely,  therefore, 
the  authority  of  the  Bible  is  acknowledged,  the  more 
generally  will  this  noble  spirit  be  diffused,  softening  the 
asperities  of  life,  and  mitigating  the  evils  and  adversities 
that  grow  out  of  the  peculiar  condition  and  ineqnalitieb 
of  the  social  state.  The  spirit  of  benevolence  and  kind- 
ness is  of  origin  divine ;  yet  to  the  credit  and  honor  of 
human  nature  be  it  said,  that  in  its  most  general  and 
comprehensive  sense,  we  designate  it  by  the  name  of 

HUMANITY. 

I  have  said  that  the  spirit  of  benevolence  and  philan- 
thropy is  coeval  with  the  origin  of  the  Bible.  A  mere 
glance  at  its  contents  will  prove  the  correctness  of  this 
proposition.  It  is  remarkable,  indeed,  that  centuries 
before  the  renowned  bard  of  Hellas  sang  in  inimitable 
lines  the  warlike  achievements,  heroic  adventures  and 
primitive  habits  of  his  age — centuries  before  Genius, 
under  the  fancied  inspiration  of  the  muses,  displayed  its 
versatile  powers  in  the  production  of  those  poetical  and 
plastic  creations,  which  form  the  pride  of  heathen  anti- 
quity and  constitute  models  of  taste  for  succeeding  ages 


—  120  — 

— centuries  before  the  liberal  arts  did  "  soften  the  man- 
ners of  man  and  reclaim  him  from  barbarity,"  the  M osaic 
polity  had  already  enunciated  those  sublime  doctrines 
of  faith,  which  in  the  end  will  be  universally  adopted, 
and  established  those  principles  of  morality,  which  form 
the  only  correct  standard  of  all  true  civilization,  and 
really  tend  to  humanize  mankind.  Under  this  system 
the  mind  became  enlarged  under  the  awful  contemplation 
of  the  One,  the  Father  of  the  Universe,  and  the  heart 
became  expanded  with  the  sentiments  of  true  philan- 
thropy, that  formed  the  basis  of  the  Divine  code  of  laws. 
It  would  be  improper  on  this  occasion  to  dilate  on  the 
principles  of  justice,  liberty  and  equality  that  characterize 
all  its  provisions,  but  the  spirit  of  its  charitable  institu- 
tions and  enactments  well  deserves  a  brief  notice  at  our 
hands. 

The  public  institutions  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  and 
needy,  under  the  Mosaic  system,  were  in  keeping  with 
the  usages  of  that  remote  age  and  the  occupation  of  the 
people — agriculture  being  the  principal  pursuit.  They 
consisted  in  tithes  and  gleanings  from  the  field,  the 
orchard  and  the  vineyard.  But  from  the  benefit  of  these 
charitable  provisions  none  was  excluded.  The  stranger 
in  the  gates  had  an  equal  claim  with  the  native  born 
Israelite  to  this  harvest  of  the  poor.  It  was  intended 
for  the  afflicted,  the  needy,  the  stranger,  the  widow  and 
the  orphan,  that  all  might  enjoy  the  blessings  of  God. 

In  like  manner  does  Scripture  enjoin  the  dispensation 
of  private  charity,  on  the  broad  principle  of  compre- 
hensive benevolence.  "  If  thy  brother  become  poor,  and 
fall  in  decay  with  thee,  then  shalt  thou  assist  him,  a' 
stranger,  or  a  sojourner,  that  he  may  live  with  thee." 
"  If  there  be  among  thee  a  needy  man  of  one  of  thy 
brethren,  within  any  of  thy  gates,  thou  shalt  not  harden 
thy  heart,  nor  shut  thy  hand  from  thy  needy  brother : 


—  121   — 

thou  shalt  open  wide  thy  hand  unto  thy  brother,  to  thy 
poor  and  to  thy  needy  in  the  land."  Particular  stress 
is  laid  on  the  support  and  aid  to  be  granted  to  the  widow 
and  the  fatherless,  and  the  neglect  of  this  duty  was  ac- 
counted one  of  the  most  grievous  sins.  Job,  in  review- 
ing his  past  life,  pathetically  exclaims  in  self-justification, 
"  Have  I  ever  denied  the  wish  of  the  poor,  or  have  I 
allowed  the  eyes  of  the  widow  to  fail  in  vain  hope  ? 
Have  I  ever  eaten  my  bread  by  myself  alone,  and  the 
fatherless  did  not  eat  thereof?  Yea,  I  delivered  the 
poor  that  cried,  and  the  fatherless,  that  had  none  to  help 
him ;  the  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  came 
upon  me,  and  the  heart  of  the  widow  I  caused  to  sing 
for  joy." 

This  spirit  of  chanty  and  benevolence,  instilled  by 
law  and  precept,  celebrated  in  the  glowing  language  of 
the  inspired  writers,  and  strengthened  by  practice,  for- 
ever remained  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the 
people  of  the  Bible.  For  a  long  time  exposed  to  the 
scorn,  the  contumely  and  persecution  of  the  world,  the 
Israelites  practically  demonstrated  this  spirit  of  charity 
and  benevolence,  in  magnanimously  forgiving  and  for- 
getting untold  injuries  and  wrongs ;  in  extending  the 
hand  of  brotherhood  to  the  reconciled  foe;  in  supporting 
the  needy  of  his  kindred  and  faith;  in  sympathizing 
deeply  with  human  suffering  ;  in  being  ever  prompt  to 
afford  relief;  in  assisting  in  the  promotion  of  every 
scheme  tending  to  enhance  the  improvement  and  increase 
the  happiness  of  our  common  race. 

"  Where'er  we  roamed — along  the  brink 
Of  Rhine,  or  by  the  sweeping  Po, 
Through  Alpine  vale  or  champaign  wide. 
Whate'er  we  looked  on,  at  our  side 
Waf  Charity — to  bid  us  think 
And  feel,  and  kindness  show." 


—  122  — 

And  these  principles  we  still  cherish — and  this  spirit 
we  still  foster,  with  a  devotion  that  shrinks  from  no 
obstacle  and  is  ever  sanguine  of  success.  The  cause  of 
philanthropy  addresses  itself  to  the  noblest  impulses  of 
the  human  heart.  Wherever  it  flourishes,  there  is  true 
civilization.  Here,  in  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home 
of  the  brave,  it  finds  a  genial  soil ;  for  the  free  are  gen- 
erous, and  the  brave  humane.  Under  the  glorious  banner 
of  our  blessed  country  we  may  freely  pursue  our  mission 
of  peace,  and  found  institutions  for  the  promotion  of  the 
comfort  and  well-being  of  our  suffering  fellow-creatures. 
As  the  broad  sheet  of  "  the  Father  of  Waters  "  glides 
in  its  majestic  grandeur  along  this  bank,  bearing  on  its 
bosom  manifold  products  of  God's  blessing  and  man's 
industry :  thus  may  our  charity  expand  and  in  its  course 
supply  the  wants  of  the  needy  and  minister  to  the  com- 
forts of  the  poor,  console  the  widow  and  protect  the 
orphan. 

Of  all  the  Jewish  congregations  that  are  now  existing 
in  this  country,  or  that  are  in  the  progress  of  formation, 
there  is  not  one  that  had  not  its  origin  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  benevolent  society,  or  to  which  from  its  very 
beginning  some  charitable  institution  had  not  been 
attached.  And  these  benevolent  associations  are  not 
founded  upon  the  principle  of  mutual  relief  societies, 
whose  benefits  are  confined"  to  their  own  members.  Their 
objects  are  purely  charitable.  Their  members  enjoy  no 
other  privilege  but  that  of  dispensing  with  prudence  and 
circumspection  the  aggregate  sum  of  their  own  annual 
dues  and  voluntary  contributions  in  a  manner  best  fitted 
to  promote  the  general  good.  And  it  is  mainly  owing 
to  this  systematic  charity,  or  rather  charitable  system, 
that  few,  if  any,  of  the  descendants  of  Abraham  are 
found  among  the  inmates  of  the  public  charities.  The 
solicitude  manifested  on  our  part  to  save  our  co-religion- 


—  123  — 

ists  from  becoming  dependent  on  a  public  charity,  is  not 
so  much  founded  in  religious  considerations,  as  in  the 
conviction  that  the  chief  object  of  charity  is  to  prevent 
pauperism.  This  object,  however,  can  only  be  accomp- 
lished by  tendering  our  aid  to  the  poor,  while  he  has 
yet  the  strength  to  retrieve  his  broken  fortunes,  while 
the  consciousness  of  his  dignity  and  the  hope  of  a  better 
future  have  not  yet  departed  from  his  bosom. 

For  the  last  eleven  years  the  Hebrew  Benevolent 
Association  has  been  in  active  operation.  Before  yet  a 
Synagogue  was  built,  tljis  society  had  been  instituted 
and  incorporated.  Its  object  is  to  grant  relief  to  the 
poor  and  sick  of  the  Jewish  persuasion  in  this  city  and 
its  vicinity.  Generously  has  it  been  supported,  and 
nobly  has  it  performed  its  mission.  Many  a  poor  stranger, 
fleeing  from  the  tyranny  and  oppression  of  European 
governments  and  seeking  an  asylum  on  these  hospitable 
shores,  has  received  its  timely  succor  and  been  provided 
with  the  means  to  gain  an  honest  living.  And  there  are 
instances  on  record  of  individuals  thus  relieved  grate- 
fully refunding  the  amount  granted  to  them,  and  be- 
coming active  members  of  an  institution,  to  whose  well- 
timed  assistance,  they  were  indebted  for  their  indepen- 
dence. The  home  of  many  a  poor  family  has  been 
rendered  cheerful  by  the  dropping  of  its  bounty  ;  and 
many  a  poor  pilgrim,  stricken  down  with  disease  far 
from  his  home  and  kindred,  has  received  at  its  hands 
that  aid  and  sympathy  which,  under  Providence, 
snatched  him  from  the  portals  of  death,  or,  at  least, 
soothed  the  last  solemn  hours  of  his  life. 

During  the  ever-memorable  epidemic  season  of  1853, 
near  4,500  dollars  were  expended  by  this  Association  for 
the  relief  of  the  sick  and  poor,  and  I  may  safely  aver, 
that  during  the  comparatively  short  period  of  its  exist- 
ence more  than  $30,000  have  been  disbursed  by  it  for 
charitable  objects. 


—   124  — 

For  several  years  this  association  stood  alone  in  the 
field  of  benevolence.  But,  as  with  the  increase  of  our 
population  the  calls  for  relief  became  more  numerous  and 
varied,  a  new  and  powerful  ally  made  its  appearence. 
In  1S47,  the  Hebrew  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society  was 
organized.  Need  I  speak  of  the  zeal  and  devotion  with 
which  this  society  entered  the  lists  to  combat  the  ills  of 
life  to  which  the  poor  and  destitute  are  exposed  ?  As 
well  might  I  attempt  to  praise  the  beaming  moon  in  a 
cloudless  night  for  the  soothing  light  of  her  silver  rays, 
or  the  rose  for  the  sweetness  of,  its  fragrance.  Who  is 
not  aware  of  the  deep,  abiding  affections  that  dwell  in 
the  heart  of  woman  !  In  her  gentle  nature  she  is  the  liv- 
ing representative  of  charity.  Her  warm  sympathy  is 
ever  sure  to  soothe  the  afflicted  and  to  comfort  the 
broken-hearted  ;  for  "  the  law  of  kindness  is  on  her 
tongue.  "  She  lends  to  prosperity  its  transcendent  lustre, 
and  inspires  adversity  with  fortitude,  resignation  and 
hope.  And  whilst  her  eye  is  melting  with  the  tear  of 
compassion,  "  she  spreadeth  out  wide  her  hand  to  the 
poor  ;  yea,  her  hands  she  stretcheth  forth  to  the  needy." 
Well  may  we  say,  with  the  sage  of  old,  "  Give  her  of 
the  fruit  of  her  hands,  and  let  her  own  works  praise  her 
in  the  gates. " 

Another  society  of  two  years  standing  is  "  The  Hebrew 
Foreign  Mission.  "  As  the  title  indicates,  it  has  for  its 
object  the  amelioration  of  the  spiritual,  social  and  politi- 
cal condition  of  Israelites  in  foreign  countries.  But  it  is 
likewise  within  its  province  to  introduce  a  system  of 
colonization,  with  a  special  view  to  the  creating  of  settle- 
ments in  this  country,  in  which  the  peaceful  habits  of 
agricultural  and  pastoral  life,  to  which  the  people  of 
Israel  was  exclusively  devoted  in  the  days  of  old,  may 
be  re-established.  As  yet  this  society  is  in  its  infancy, 
and  has  produced  no  practical  effect.  But  who  can  doubt 


—  125  — 

its  future  beneficial  results  ?  who  cannot  foresee  that  in 
the  end  it  will  be  subsidiary,  to  some  extent,  in  develop- 
ing the  resources  and  raising  the  moral  influence  of  our 
country  ? 

Another  important'  charitable  institution  of  recent  date 
owes  its  origin  to  the  munificence  of  one  man.  It  com- 
memorates a  name  that  will  ever  be  dear  to  us,  will  ever 
be  honored  by  the  good  and  benevolent,  and  be  specially 
blessed  by  those  who  shall  reap  the  benefits  of  that  insti- 
tution. I  refer  to  the  Jewish  Hospital,  known  under  the 
name  of  the  Touro  Infirmary,  the  bequest  of  our  late 
lamented  fellow-citizen  Judah  Touro.  Its  objects  and 
necessity  are  easily  comprehended.  For  although  the 
Charity  Hospital,  a  State  institution,  and  the  noble 
Howards,  a  band  of  disinterested,  high-minded  citizens 
have  the  specific  object  of  extending  their  aid  to  all  who 
may  require  it — although  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  Asso- 
ciation has  devoted  its  best  energies  to  the  relief  of  the 
poor  and  homeless  in  times  of  sicksess  and  desolation  : 
yet  the  expediency  of  a  Hospital,  where  patients,  whose 
religious  convictions  and  profoundest  hopes  are  in  unison 
with  ours,  receive  the  requisite  attention  and  treatment 
under  our  own  supervision,  will  be  admitted  by  every 
well-disposed  mind.  Thrice  blessed  be  the  memory  of 
that  good  old  man,  whose  last  acts  were  in  keeping  with 
the  eminently  benevolent  tenor  of  his  whole  life — whose 
philanthropy  was  unprejudiced — whose  charity,  although 
judiciously  beginning  at  home,  was  yet  not  restricted  to 
the  pale  of  his  own  creed,  but  exceeded  the  boundaries 
of  the  latter,  and  extended  its  benefits  even  to  distant 
communities. 

In  the  course  of  my  remarks  I  have  given  a  succinct 
history  of  our  Jewish  benevolent  institutions.  Each  of 
them  has  a  laudable  object,  and  demonstrated  the  neces. 
sity  of  its  existence.  Whoever  is  acquainted  with  the 


—  126  — 

details  of  their  operations  must  have  observed  their  use- 
fulness and  the  happy  results  attained  through  their 
agency.  But  it  cannot  be  overlooked  that  the  relief 
granted  by  the  above-mentioned  charities  is  only  of  a 
temporary  character  ;  and  yet  there  is  a  class  of  unfort- 
unate beings  among  us  who,  from  the  helplessness  of 
their  condition,  demand  our  permanent  support  and  pro- 
tection. The  poor  widow  who  mourns  the  loss  of  a  be- 
loved husband,  to  whom  she  clung  in  prosperity  and 
adversity,  in  weal  and  woe,  at  whose  side  she  was  con- 
tented in  the  humblest  station,  and  resigned  to  the  sever- 
est strokes  of  fortune  ;  the  orphan  who  is  deprived  of  his 
natural  protectors,  and  forever  remains  a  stranger  to  the 
sweet  influences  of  home,  that  exert  their  power  and  are 
remembered  with  a  melting  tenderness  to  the  last  day  of 
life  ;  the  one  with  the  finer  sensibilities  of  her  sex  and 
the  contracted  sphere  of  her  resources  cramped  in  her 
exertion  to  secure  a  maintenance  ;  the  other  with  powers 
and  capacities  yet  undeveloped,  tossed  about  by  the 
fierce  waves  of  privation,  and  hunger,  and  unguided  im- 
pulse— these  unfortunate  beings,  every  one  must  admit, 
cannot  be  left  to  the  temporary  relief  of  a  charitable 
society  or  to  the  caprice  and  chance  of  private  benevo- 
lence, without  jeopardizing  their  very  existence. 

An  eminent  modern  writer  thus  graphically  depicts 
the  precarious  condition  of  the  fatherless.  "  There 
seems,  "  he  says,  "  to  be  a  sort  of  chance  in  the  lot  of  the 
orphan  offspring  of  the  poor.  On  some  the  eye  of  bene- 
volence falls  at  the  very  first  moment  of  their  uttermost 
destitution — and  their  worst  sorrows,  instead  of  begin- 
ning, terminate  with  the  tears  shed  over  their  parents, 
graves.  They  are  taken  by  the  hand,  as  soon  as  their 
hands  have  been  stretched  out  for  protection,  and  admit- 
ted as  inmates  into  households,  whose  doors,  had  their 
fathers  and  mothers  been  alive,  they  would  never  have 


—  127  — 

darkened. .  The  light  of  comfort  falls  upon  them  during 
the  gloom  of  grief,  and  attends  them  all  their  days. 
Others,  again,  are  overlooked  at  the  first  fall  of  affliction, 
as  if  by  some  unaccountable  fatality  ;  the  wretchedness, 
with  which  all  have  become  familiar,  no  one  very  tender- 
ly pities  ;  and  thus  the  orphan,  reconciling  herself  to 
the  extreme  hardships  of  her  condition,  lives  on  uncheered 
by  those  sympathies  out  of  which  grow  both  happiness 
and  virtue,  and  yielding  by  degrees  to  the  constant  pres- 
sure of  her  lot,  remains  poor  in  spirit  as  in  estate,  and 
either  vegetates  like  an  almost  worthless  weed,  that  is 
carelessly  trodden  on  by  every  foot,  or  if  by  nature  born 
a  flower,  in  time  loses  her  lustre,  and  all  the  days  leads 
the  life  of  wretchedness  and  misery.  " 

To  preclude  the  possibility  of  so  gloomy  a  lot  ;  to 
provide  a  home  for  the  homeless ;  to  offer  a  retreat  to  the 
venerable  matron  and  solace  her  widowed  heart  in  her 
declining  age  ;  to  come  to  her  assistance,  when  in  the 
loneliness  of  her  grief  and  the  intensity  of  her  afflic- 
tion she  lifts  up  her  weeping  eyes  on  high,  exclaiming, 
"  O  Father,  whence  shall  come  my  help  ?  "  to  relieve 
her  mind  from  the  sordid  cares,  paltry  wants  and  petty 
humiliations,  that  would  shroud  her  weak  timid  nature 
in  the  gloom  of  despair  ;  to  provide  an  asylum  for  the 
fatherless  ;  to  watch  over  the  tender  years  of  their  child- 
hood with  a  mother's  affection  ;  to  superintend  their 
bodily  wants  and  promote  their  mental  culture ;  to  guard 
them  from  temptation  and  vice  ;  to  elicit  the  faculties  of 
their  minds  and  teach  them  the  ways  of  religion,  of  vir- 
tue, of  honor  and  of  rectitude  ;  to  equip  them  for  life's 
perilous  voyage,  that  they  may  become  useful  members 
of  society,  and  feel  that  they  too  have  a  portion  in  God's 
beautiful  heritage  : — to  realize  these  transcendently  noble 
and  philanthropic  ends,  this  institution  has  been  founded. 

Shall  I  farther   elaborate  its  objects  ?     No,  I  must  for- 


—  128  —  '  .. 

bear.  It  would  be  presuming  too  much  on  your  indui. 
gence,  which  I  fear  I  have  already  overtaxed.  Only  this 
let  me  say  in  conclusion. 

The  institution  which  has  this  day  been  founded  is  the 
youngest  and  fairest  of  her  Hebrew  sister-charities,  and 
deserves  to  become  the  cherished  pet  of  our  community . 
The  zeal  and  devotion  that  have  hitherto  characterized 
your  exertions  in  its  behalf,  must  not  be  suffered  to  cool. 
Additional  sacrifices,  no  doubt,  will  be  required  to  place 
it  on  a  firm  and  permanent  basis,  and  to  fully  realize  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  called  into  life.  Let  these 
sacrifices  be  promptly  made  when  needed.  Let  the  spirit 
of  benevolence  and  philanthropy  continue  to  guide  your 
deliberations  and  labors,  and  the  blessing  of  God  will 
prosper  your  design.  And  as  the  eye  is  riveted  by  the 
soft  light  of  the  morning  dawn,  the  heart  by  the  chains  of 
love,  the  mind  by  the  power  of  truth — so  may  your 
generous  impulses  be  directed,  with  an  abiding  solici- 
tude, towards  "  The  Home  for  Jewish  Widows  and 
Orphans  of  New  Orleans.  " 


XII. 
ORATION 

Delivered  on  the  Fifth  Anniversary 


OF    THE 


HOME  FOR  JEWISH  WIDOWS  AND    ORPHANS 

OF  NEW   ORLEANS, 

J  anuary  8th,    I  85  I. 


sun  of  the  glorious  Eighth  of  January  has  again 
reached  its  meridian  altitude.  Shedding  its  i*ays 
upon  those  fields  rendered  memorable  by  patriotic  valor, 
it  warms  our  hearts  with  patriotic  fervor,  kindling  anew 
the  memories  and  associations  which  cluster  around  this 
day,  and  around  "  the  good  men  and  true,"  who  staked 
their  lives  for  their  country's  good.  Forty-six  years 
have  elapsed  since  the  last  invader  was  met  and  van- 
quished upon  American  soil — upon  Louisiana's  sunny 
plains.  From  the  date  of  that  victory  no  foreign  foe  has 
dared  approach  our  shores,  or  molest  our  flag.  Secure 
in  our  conscious  strength,  our  resources  were  steadily 
developing/  All  the  elements  constituting  a  nation's 
greatness  were  active  in  working  out  and  clearly  defining 
our  country's  proud  destiny.  Material  prosperity,  moral 
progress,  social  advancement,  political  growth,  and  all 
the  attributes  of  an  enlightened  civilization  and  of  an  in- 
creasing powerful  influence  may  be  traced  in  the  history 
of  this  short  period,  in  a  degree  that  is  without  parallel 


—  132  — 

in  the  annals  of  mankind.  The  young  Eagle,  growing 
apace  and  soaring  aloft,  had  his  eye  steadily  fixed  upon 
the  great  orb  of  liberty  as  the  fountain  of  his  strength 
and  the  condition  of  his  life. 

A  day  suggestive  of  such  reflections  is  fit  to  be  honored 
as  the  holiday  of  freemen.  For,  what  mean  the  thunder- 
ing voices  of  the  booming  cannon  which  greeted  the 
shades  of  yesternight  and  broke  upon  our  slumbers  at 
this  morning's  early  dawn  ?  What  mean  those  gallant 
bauds  of  citizen-soldiery  that  parade  our  streets  to  the 
enlivening  strains  of  martial  melody  ?  What  mean  those 
flags,  which,  from  dome  and  mast,  float  upon  the  breeze  ? 
What  mean  all  these  indications  of  a  general  holiday, 
military  and  civic,  public  and  private  V — They  are,  surely, 
no  preparations  to  repel  a  foreign  foe ;  nor  are  they 
merely  the  signs  of  a  vain  popular  enthusiasm,  venting 
itself  in  hollow  show  and  empty  pageant.  They  have  a 
deep  significance.  These  jubilant  demonstrations  are  to 
us  unequivocal  pledges  that  the  spirit  of  the  fathers  has 
descended  upon  the  sons ;  that,  as  in  days  gone  by,  the 
people  rose  as  one  man  in  defence  of  RIGHT,  JUSTICE,  and 
LIBERTY,  they  are  ready  to  do  so  again,  whenever  and 
from  whatever  quarter  the  attempt  should  be  made,  to 
crush  these  precious  legacies  secured  to  us  by  solemn 
compact. 

The  occasion  for  which  we  have  met  within  these  walls, 
is  in  keeping  with  the  historic  character  of  the  day.  We 
celebrate  the  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  an  institution 
whose  object  it  is,  to  do  battle  with  and  to  overcome  the 
misfortunes  and  distresses,  to  which  a  portion  of  our  fel- 
low creatures  are  subjected.  We  celebrate  the  triumph 
of  philanthropy — a  cause  which  brings  into  play  the 
noblest  instincts  of  human  nature.  If*  patriotism  is  the 
crown  of  the  citizen,  charity  adorns  the  man. 

Five  years  have  elapsed  since  the  Home  for  Jewish 


—  133  — 

Widows  and  Orphans  wns  dedicated  to  its  sacred  pur- 
poses. During  this  period  of  its  existence,  not  only  its 
necessity  and  usefulness,  but  also  the  active  sympathy 
and  liberal  support  of  our  community  in  its  behalf  have 
been  fully  demonstrated.  Whilst  the  original  thirteen 
inmates,  with  whom  it  was  opened,  have  swelled  to  the 
number  of  souls  which  Jacob  brought  down  with  him  to 
Egypt,  the  number  of  contributing  members  and  the 
amount  of  extraordinary  donations  have  increased  in  pro- 
portion. We  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  rts 
bounties  could  be,  and  were,  dispensed  without  stint  or 
limitation.  No  test  of  nativity  is  contained  in  our  Con- 
stitution and  By-laws,  nor  is  there  an  instance  on  our  re- 
cords, in  which  the  board  of  officers  had  not  acted  in  the 
most  liberal  spirit,  in  the  consideration  of  any  application 
presented  to  them.  And  thus  not  only  natives  of  Louis- 
iana, but  also  of  our  sister  States,  Alabama,  Mississippi, 
Tennessee,  South  Carolina,  Missouri,  Ohio,  and  New 
York — and  of  foreign  countries,  of  Poland,  Germany, 
France,  Belgium,  Holland,  England,  the  West  Indies 
and  Canada—  have  found  shelter  within  our  Home.  If  it 
be  borne  in  mind,  that  with  the  exception  of  Mobile, 
where  we  have  sixteen  regular  members,  a  few  Southern 
States,  in  which  some  of  our  regular  contributors  are 
scattered,  and  the  city  appropriation,  to  which  we  are 
entitled  by  law,  we  receive  no  permanent  appreciable 
support  from  any  quarter,  and  that  the  deficiency  in  the 
large  expenditure  for  the  maintenance  of  our  institution 
has  to  be  covered,  annually,  by  our  own  voluntary  sub- 
scriptions, in  addition  to  our  annual  dues — the  liberality 
displayed  in  the  granting  of  the  benefits  of  our  Home 
will  become  still  more  conspicuous.  The  past  five  years 
have  shown  both  our  capacity  and  our  willingness  to  do 
good  in  the  right  direction.  Our  Home  is  no  longer  an 
experiment,  but  a  fact.  Its  beneficial  results  are  patent 


—  134  — 

to  all.  Other  communities  have  followed  our  example. 
The  innocent  babe  yet  unconscious  of  its  forlorn  state — the 
guileless  child,  tearfully  looking  about  for  some  guiding, 
protecting  hand — the.helpless  matron,  yearning  for  some 
quiet  place,  where  to  repose  her  troubled  head  and  heal 
the  wounds  of  her  afflicted  heart,  have  alike  enjoyed  the 
protection,  the  fostering  care  and  domestic  comfort  suit- 
able to  thoir  age  and  condition,  within  the  walls  of  our 
Homa.  The  gratifying  results,  the  amount  of  good  thus 
far  achieved,  must  engender  within  us  the  desire  to  in- 
crease and  render  permanent  the  efficiency  of  our  institu- 
tion— to  place  it  beyond  the  contingency  of  a  failure — to 
secure  to  it  a  perpetual  basis — to  create  it  into  a  monu- 
ment "  more  enduring  than  bronze,"  beaiing  testimony 
to  the  children  and  the  children's  children  of  the  charit- 
able disposition  and  noble  generosity  of  their  fathers. 

In  what  language,  more  impressive  and  more  touch- 
ing, can  fathers  speak  to  their  children,  than  in  the  lang- 
uage of  those  noble  monuments,  which  are  speaking 
evidences  of  the  pious  and  benevolent  sentiments  that 
animated  their  hearts  ?  Whenever  we  cross  the  thresh- 
old of  an  institution  devoted  to  the  amelioration  of 
suffering  humanity  or  to  the  mental  and  moral  improve- 
ment of  our  race,  we  are  seized  with  emotions  of  the  pro- 
foundest  gratitude  and  reverence  for  the  memory  of  its 
founder.  We  feel  that  we  stand  on  holy  ground.  A 
sympathetic  chord  is  touched  in  our  hearts.  We  are 
forced  to  admire  the  palpable  evidences  of  the  nobler  in- 
stincts which  God  has  implanted  in  the  human  soul.  The 
selfishness  of  our  nature  is  hushed.  Bright  visions  of 
philanthropy  and  love  dawn  upon  our  mind,  and  seldom 
we  leave  the  consecrated  spot  without  conceiving  the  firm 
resolve,  to  contribute  our  share  to  the  furtherance  of 
general  good,  to  exercise  the  God-like  privilege  of  pi-o- 
tecting  the  weak,  comforting  the  desolate,  instructing 


—  135   — 

the  ignorant,  and  supporting  the  needy.  The  Girnrd 
College,  the  Astor  Library,  the  Smithsonian  Institute, 
the  Touro  Almshouse  and  Touro  Infirmary,  are  enduring 
and  honorable  monuments  to  the  memories  of  their  re- 
spective founders.  These  and  similar  institutions  speak 
in  a  language  that  is  universally  understood,  the  sound 
of  which  will  be  distinctly  heard  above  the  selfish  clamor 
of  the  present  and  of  future  generations. 

Is  it  not  natural,  then,  that  you  should  glory  in  the 
idea  of  having  founded  an  institution  that  will  not  perish 
with  your  death,  but  will  perpetuate  the  spirit  and  the 
feelings  which  called  it  into  existence,  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  your  children?  This  Home  is  the  proudest  of 
your  enterprises,  the  safest  and  most  creditable  of  your 
investments.  Of  all  your  earthly  possessions  and  treas- 
ures it  is  the  only  one  of  which  you  can  say  with  cer- 
tainty, "  We  shall  leave  it  as  a  patrimony  to  our  children." 
You  cannot  say  this  of  the  houses  which  you  inhabit, 
and  which  you  have  not  inherited  from  your  ancestors. 
But  the  foundation,  upon  which  our  Home  is  erected,  we 
have  received  as  an  inalienable  and  indestructible  legacy 
from  our  fathers  and  shall  bequcathe  in  like  manner  to 
our  children.  Upon  this  foundation — charity  and  love — 
our  posterity  will  continue  to  raise  superstructures  more 
grand,  more  extensive  still,  for  the  benefit  and  salvation 
of  mankind. 

Of  all  the  human  efforts  that  excite  our  admiration, 
works  of  public  utility  and  benefaction  are  the  most 
salutary  «nd  precious.  Every  single  act  of  charity  be- 
stowed upon  an  individual  adorns  the  heart  that  prompted 
it,  as  every  single  virtue  is  an  ornament  to  its  possessor. 
Hut  as  a  single  virtue  does  not  suffice,  to  conquer  the 
evil  propensities  of  our  nature,  so  is  an  isolated  alms  in- 
adequate to  relieve  general  want,  to  alleviate  general 
distress.  All  we  know  of  it  with  certainty,  is  the  gener- 


—  136  — 

ous  emotion  which  thrills  our  heart  in  its  bestowal ;  but 
we  have  no  guarantee  that  the  seed  thus  sown  may  not 
fall  upon  a  barren  soil.  In  depositing,  however,  our 
offerings  of  benevolence  upon  the  altar  of  institutions 
designed  for  public  benefaction,  we  can  witness  with  our 
own  eyes  the  fire,  which  descends  from  heaven,  to  con- 
sume the  sacrifice. 

The  sight  of  the  needy  and  the  distressed  causes  your 
tender  heart  to  ache ;  you  bestow  your  gift,  in  order  to 
soothe  at  once  their  pain  and  yours.  But  may  not,  in  the 
very  next  hour,  a  similar  spectacle  of  woe  inflict  a  still 
deeper  pain  upon  your  heart,  whilst  you  have  not  the 
power  to  soothe  it  ?  Now  the  public  institution,  sus- 
tained by  general  co-operation,  affords  you  a  guarantee 
of  its  permanent  ability.  Philanthropic  corporations  are 
established  for  specific  purposes.  The  means  entrusted 
to  4heir  hands  must  be  employed  in  the  furtherance  of 
distinctly  expressed  ends,  and  cannot  be  diverted  from 
their  legitimate  objects.  The  aggregate  contributions  of 
individuals  become  a  consolidated  fund,  which  forms  the 
common  property  of  the  community.  Private  charity  re- 
dounds to  the  credit  of  the  individual,  but  public  charit- 
able institutions  reflect  honor  upon  the  community  and 
the  nation. 

And  is  any  one  bold  enough  to  say,  I  am  a  member  of 
this  community,  but  a  stranger  to  its  noble  efforts  in  the 
field  of  charity  ?  I  will  have  nor  share,  nor  portion  in 
the  good  and  excellent  works  that  are  fostered  on  its 
bosom  ?  Dare  any  one  say,  I  belong  to  the  nation,  but 
I  do  not  practice  those  virtues  which  constitute  my  na- 
tion's honor  and  greatness  ?  As  well  may  you  say,  I  am 
a  man,  but  am  not  affected  by  anything  appertaining  to 
humanity  ! 

That  charity  is  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of  our 
people,  has  so  frequently  been  made  the  theme  of  charity 


—   137  — 

orations,  that  I  fear  the  re-statement  of  this  proposition 
will  be  considered  trite  and  threadbare.  Yet  a  truth, 
however  old,  loses  nothing  of  its  force  by  repetition,  more 
especially  if  it  is  strengthened  by  recent  stubborn  facts. 
I  shall  not,  therefore,  on  this  occasion,  refer  to  the 
maxims  of  love  and  laws  of  charity  taught  and  enjoined 
by  the  Inspired  Volume,  which  constitutes  the  fountain 
of  our  faith  and  the  standard  of  our  actions ;  I  shall  not 
tire  you  with  quotations  from  our  national  literature, 
dogmatical  and  ethical,  in  which  the  principles  of  univer- 
sal benevolence  are  insisted  upon  as  the  indispensable 
criteria  of  a  righteous  life  ;  nor  shall  I  open  the  book  of 
history  to  cull  from  the  experience  of  past  centuries  such 
incidents  as  might  strikingly  illustrate  the  practical  work- 
ing of  these  principles  and  doctrines.  Recent  events  are 
sufficient  to  corroborate  our  proposition. 

Not  many  months  ago  the  whole  civilized  world  was 
startled  by  the  intelligence,  that  the  most  shocking  out- 
rages had  been  committed  in  Syria.  •  Fired  by  religious 
fanaticism,  the  Mohammedan  Druses  attacked  their 
Christian  fellow-subjects,  and  dealt  out  death  and  de- 
struction among  their  defenceless  victims.  In  their  un- 
holy and  savage  zeal  they  vowed  to  exterminate  the 
"  infidels  "  from  the  face  of  the  land.  Nor  age,  nor  sex 
was  spared.  Thousands  were  cruelly  massacred,  whilst 
the  remaining  thousands  sought  their  safety  in  flight, 
and  were  thus  exposed  to  utter  destitution,  the  horrors 
of  starvation,  and  the  cruel  tortures  that -awaited  them  at 
the  hands  of  their  fierce  enemies. 

The  pitiful  cries  of  these  wretched  people  had  no  sooner 
reached  the  shores  of  Europe,  when  sovereigns  and  states- 
men and  imperial  legislatures  were  moving,  to  succor 
and  protect  their  brothers-in-faith  against  the  inflamed 
passions  of  the  fanatic  sons  of  the  desert.  But  sovereigns 
and  statesmen  and  imperial  legislatures  are  swayed  by 


—   138  — 

political  considerations,  and  accustomed  to  move  within 
the  circumscribed  sphere  of  diplomatic  prudence.  From 
their  exalted  station  they  are  wont  to  look  only  upon 
etitire  provinces  and  lands  and  peoples,  whilst  the  dis- 
tresses of  individuals,  or  even  the  calamities  of  commun- 
ities, rarely  move  their  hearts  to  active  intercession. 
The  sufferers  in  Syria  stood  in  need  of  immediate  help. 
The  voice  of  humanity,  which  is  the  voice  of  God, 
pleaded  in  their  behalf.  And  it  so  happened  that  the  first 
man  who  rightly  and  opportunely  published  to  the  world 
an  interpretation  of  this  voice — was  a  Jew.  He  is  one  of 
Israel's  noblest  sons,  and  has  devoted,  for  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century,  his  time,  his  means  and  his  energies  to  the 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  his  oppressed  and  per- 
secuted brethren  in  various  countries  and  climes.  Having 
so  frequently  listened  to  the  groanings  of  his  own  co- 
religionists, his  philanthropic  heart  instinctively  warmed 
for  the  suffering  strangers,  and  impelled  him  to  prompt 
action.  But  his  communication  to  the  London  Times,  as 
simple  in  its'  style  as  sublime  in  its  object,  will  speak  for 
itself : 

"  To  the,  Editor  of  the  Times  : 

"  SIR — I  have  noticed  with  the  deepest  sympathy,  the  statement 
made  last  evening  in  the  House  of  Lords,  that,  owing  to  the  recent 
outbreak  in  Syria,  there  are  20,000  of  the  Christian  inhabitants, 
women  and  children,  wandering  over  its  mountains,  exposed  to  the 
utmost  peril.  Being  intimately  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  that, 
country  and  the  condition  of  its  people,  I  appreciate,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  but  too  painfully,  the  vast  amount  of  misery  that  must  have 
been  endured  and  is  still  prevalent. 

"  I  believe  that  private  benevolence  may  do  something  towards 
the  alleviation  of  the  distresses  of  the  unhappy  multitude  now  de- 
fenceless, homeless  and  destitute. 

"  I  well  know,  from  experience,  the  philanthropy  of  my  fellow- 
countrymen,  and  I  venture  to  think  that  the  public  would  gladly 
and  without  delay  contribute  to  the  raising  of  a  fund  to  be  applied 


—  139  — 

as  circumstances  may  require,  and  under  judicious  management, 
for  the  relief  of  these  unfortunate  objects  of  persecution. 

"  I  would  suggest,  therefore,  that  a  small,  active  and  influential 
committee  be  at  once  formed,  with  the  view  of  raising  subscrip- 
tions, and  of  placing  themselves  in  communication  with  the  British 
Consular  authorities  throughout  Syria,  so  that  assistance  may  be 
rendered  by  the  remittance  of  money  and  the  transmission  of 
necessary  supplies  ;  and  I  take  the  liberty  of  enclosing  my  check 
for  £200,  towards  the  proposed  fund. 

"      *      *      *      I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  yours  faithfully, 

"  MOSES  MONTEFIORE." 

"  East  Cliff  Lodge,  Ramsgate,   ) 
July  10th,  1860.  f 

But  this  is  not  an  isolated  instance.  Simultaneously 
with  this  communication  there  appeared  a  letter  of  the 
same  import,  written  by  another  eminent  Jew,  and  pub. 
lished  in  the  Siecle,  of  Paris.  It  was  from  the  pen  of  the 
eloquent  advocate  and  liberal  statesman,  whose  voice  at 
one  time  was  potent  in  the  councils  of  France,  and  who 
ranks  among  the  first  barristers  of  the  Empire.  After 
portraying  the  wretched  condition  of  the  sufferers,  Mons. 
Cremieux  thus  proceeds: 

"  French  Israelites  !  let  us  be  the  first  to  come  to  the  help  of  our 
Christian  brethren  ;  let  us  not  wait  for  the  results  of  diplomacy, 
always  so  slow,  which  will  regulate  the  future.  Let  us  come  to 
the  help  of  these  unfortunates.  Let  there,  this  very  day,  a  large 
subscription  be  opened  at  Paris,  and  to-morrow  an  Israelitish  com- 
mittee be  organized. 

"  Let  us  not  lose  one  day,  not  one  hour.  Let  the  signal  for  a 
vast  succor  proceed  from  the  midst  of  a  Jewish  body,  formed  in  the 
capital  of  civilization.  This  signal  will  nvjet  with  a  response  from 
our  brethren  in  England,  Germany,  Belgium,  Holland,  and  all 
Europe,  both  in  the  countries  which  acknowledge  them  as  citizens, 
and  in  those  which  still  withhold  from  them  this  noble  title. 

"  You,  also,  Jews  of  America,  where  liberty  of  worship  marches 
triumphantly  ;  you,  also,  wrll  come  to  the  help  of  the  Catholics  in 
Asia,  so  cruelly  oppressed  by  superstition.  Let  all  of  us  bring  our 
contribution  to  this  holy  work — the  opulent  Jew  his  large  offering, 
the  poor  Jew  his  little  mite. 


—  140  — 

"  But  a  still  grander  idea  may  be  expected  to  issue  from  this 
burst  of  devotion.  Who  knows  ?  God,  who  governs  all  things, 
has  perhaps  permitted  this  awful  catastrophe,  in  order  to  afford  the 
followers  of  all  religions  a  solemn  opportunity  to  assist  each  other 
to  defend  themselves  against  those  furious  animosities,  daughters 
of  superstition  and  barbarism.  A  permanent  committee  in  every 
country,  carefully  watching  all  attacks  made  on  the  liberty  of 
conscience,  a  general  fund  for  the  support  of  the  victims  of  fanatic- 
ism without  distinction  of  creed — this  is  the  establishment  which 
must  be  founded  and  sustained.  Yes,  the  evils  which  at  this 
moment  innocent  victims  undergo,  will  awaken  the  sympathies  of 
all.  They  will  fructify  the  thought  of  protecting  the  future 
against  the  return  of  the  scourge,  which  our  age  repels  with 
horror — religious  persecution." 

These  efforts  of  two  Jewish  laymen  were  fully  endorsed 
and  actively  supported  by  eminent  ecclesiastical  author- 
ities. The  Chief  Rabbi  of  Great  Britain,  the  highly  es- 
teemed and  learned  Dr.  N".  M.  Adler,  deemed  the  occa- 
sion of  sufficient  importance  to  issue  a  pastoral  letter  to 
his  flock,  in  which  the  following  passage  occurs  : 

"  I  need  not  remind  you  that  oar  holy  religion,  whose  basis  is 
the  commandment,  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  urges  upon 
us  the  duty  of  dispensing  our  charity  without  distinction  of  faith, 
sect  or  class — it  enjoins  upon  us  emphatically  to  deal  out  bread  to 
the  hungry,  to  console  the  afflicted,  to  cover  the  naked,  and  not  to 
hide  ourselves  from  those  who  are  bone  of  our  bone,  and  flesh  of 
our  flesh.  However  divided  and  separated  we  may  be  by  seas 
mountains,  languages  and  creeds,  still  we  are  descended  from  the 
same  Father,  the  same  God  has  created  us,  we  belong  to  the  same 
undivided,  original  family." 

A  letter  from  Bordeaux,  in  the  London  Times,  an- 
nounces that  the  Grand  Rabbi  of  that  city,  together 
with  the  members  of  the  Consistory,  presented  them- 
selves at  the  Archbishop's  Palace,  and  handed  to  Cardi- 
nal Donnet  the  produce  of  a  collection  made  by  their  co- 
religionists in  favor  of  the  Christians  in  Syria. 

Nay,  more  than  this.     A  number  of  boys  belonging 


—  141   — 

to  the  sorely-oppressed  congregation  of  Rome,  made  a 
collection  among  themselves,  and  transmitted  the  same 
to  Mr.  Cremieux,  to  be  applied  to  the  relief  of  the  Syrian 
Christians.  Mr.  Cremieux  acknowledges  the  receipt  of 
this  contribution  and  the  accompanying  appropriate 
letter,  under  date  of  September  5,  I860,  in  the  following 
beautiful  words : 

"  My  Dear  Children  : 

"  Your  pious  gift  and  the  touching  letter  accompany  ing  it  are  at 
hand.  Foster  within  you  these  good,  and  noble  feelings,  the  seeds 
of  which  are  planted  in  your  juvenile  hearts.  There  in  nothing 
more  pleasing  to  God  than  sympathy  with  the  unfortunate.  There 
is  not  a  more  sacred  command  than  this  :  "  Thou  sbalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself."  And  in  the  century  in  which  we  live,  my 
dear  children,  the  neighbor,  whom  we  are  commanded  to  love,  is 
the  man  who  suffers,  no  matter  what  faith  he  may  profess  or  in 
what  religion  he  may  have  been  born.  The  God,  whom  we  w«.r- 
ship,  wills,  that  we  succor  the  distressed."  *  *  * 

Now,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  these  strenuous  charita- 
ble efforts  were  made  by  Jews  in  behalf  of  those  very 
Christians,  who  in  the  year  1840  had  inflicted  the  cru- 
elest  persecutions  which  fanaticism  could  devise,  upon 
the  Jewish  inhabitants  of  Damascus,  we  are  justified  in 
asserting  if  stern  facts  and  undeniable  deeds  prove 
anything — that  charity,  in  its  amplest  sense,  is  a  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  of  our  people,  inculcated  by 
our  religion,  taught  in  our  schools  and  Synagogues,  liv- 
ing in  our  hearts,  and  influencing  our  conduct. 

For  ourselves  there  would  be  no  need  of  recapitulat- 
ing and  emphasizing  these  occurrences,  further  than  ad- 
vert to  them  as  bright  examples  worthy  of  our  emula- 
tion. We  know  that  they  are  the  natural  out-pourings 
of  deeply-rooted  and  fondly-cherished  sentiments,  which 
we  hold  in  common  with  Israelites  all  over  the  globe. 
But  the  charge  of  unfeeling  exclusiveness  and  sectarian 
narrow -mi  ndednesa  (to  use  the  mildest  terms)  is  so  ire- 


—  142  — 

quently  dinned  into  our  ears  and  repeated  ad  nauseam, 
usque,  by  prejudiced  journalists,  writers  of  fiction,  and 
even  authors  of  serious  literature,  that  an  occasional 
refutation  of  these  scurrilous  skeptics — not  only  ceases 
to  be  a  violation  of  the  rules  of  modesty,  but  is  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  peculiarity  of  our  position.  The 
Scriptural  proverb,  "  Let  another  man  praise  thee,  and 
not  thy  own  mouth  ;  a  stranger,  and  not  thy  own  lips," 
can  only  have  reference  to  vain-glorious  boastings,  or 
over-weening  claims  to  fancied  or  real  superiority  over 
others;  but  if  our  individual  or  national  character  be 
aspersed,  then  a  vindication  of  our  honor  and  dignity  by 
an  appeal  to  truth,  is  in  consonance  alike  with  common 
sense  and  the  most  rigid  notions  of  propriety  and  mo- 
rality. 

For  ourselves,  we  need  not  cast  our  eyes  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  our  city,  in  order  to  point  to  instances  of 
practical  Jewish  charity,  emanating  from  individuals  or 
communities.  The  name  of  Judah  Touro,  of  blessed 
memory,  is  a  host  in  itself,  whilst  our  noble  institution, 
the  creation  of  our  united  efforts,  bears  testimony  to  the 
fact  that  we  do  not  hide  ourselves  from  the  cry  of  dis- 
tress. The  celebration  of  our  anniversary  should,  there- 
fore, enlist  our  liveliest  interest  and  enthusiasm.  To  re- 
joice in  the  happiness  of  others  is  the  purest  and  most 
heavenly  joy  which  the  human  heart  is  capable  of  in- 
dulging. It  is  the  strongest  test  of  genuine  love.  Hence 
it  is  that  to  be  instrumental  in  founding  the  happiness 
of  those,  who  otherwise  might  remain  a  prey  to  misery 
and  wretchedness,  is  to  man  a  source  of  unalloyed  grati- 
fication. Can  we  this  day,  after  five  years'  experience, 
contemplate  with  indifference  the  amount  of  good 
effected  by  our  Home?  Is  it  nothing  to  us,  to  have 
aided  in  drying  the  tear  of  the  widow — in  providing  for 
the  wants  of  the  orphan — in  giving  a  home  to  the  home- 


—  143  — 

less  ?  Is  it  nothing  to  us,  to  have  aided  in  neutralizing 
the  fearful  effects  of  poverty  leagued  with  sickness,  by 
removing  at  least  the  care  and  want  from  decrepid  age, 
and  substituting  therefor  the  smiles  of  ease  and  plenty  ? 
Is  it  nothing  to  us,  to  have  adopted  the  fatherless,  and 
to  superintend  their  physical  well-being,  and  their  moral 
and  religious  training  ?  Have  we  not  good  reason  to 
rejoice  in  the  happy  results  which,  under  Providence, 
our  young  institution  has  been  instrumental  in  pro- 
ducing ? 

Wealth  and  poverty — affluence  and  want — prosperity 
and  adversity,  are  no  idle   terms  in  the  dictionary  of 
life.     They  designate  an  actual  state  of  things.     How 
many  of  our  fellow-beings  are  subjected  to  unspeakable 
privations  and  cares,  while  others  are  enjoying  comfort 
and  ease,  and  others  again  reveling  in  the  luxuries  aud 
superfluities  of  the  world.     The  social  economy  is  mys- 
terious  in   its   arrangements.     Yet   the   Bible   teaches, 
"And  God  saw  all  that  he  had  made,  and  behold,  it  was 
very  good."     This  necessary  dependence,  then,  of  one 
class  of  society  on  the  other,  may  be  turned,  and  does, 
in  fact,  redound  to  our  good.     For  when  may  man  feel 
happier  and  more  conscious  of  his  worth  than  in  the  act 
of  relieving  the  burden   of  his  neighbor?     The  divine 
spark  of  love  is  kindled  in  his  bosom,  and  love  begets 
charity,  and  charity  begets  happiness.    In  parting,  there- 
fore, with  a  slight  portion  of  that  substance  of  which  we 
are  but  temporary  stewards,  in  aid  of  individuals  or  the 
support  of  institutions  of  public  benefaction,  we  practi- 
cally acknowledge  the  benefits  which  our  all-kind  Father 
has  bestowed  upon  us,  and  feel  exalted  in  the  reflection 
that   he   has   favored   us   to  be  the  distributors  of  hi* 
bounty. 

But   whilst  indulging    the    pleasing   emotions,  which 
our   anniversary   must    needs   awaken    in    our  hearts — 


—  144  — 

whilst  congratulating  ourselves  upon  the  happy  results 
thus  far  achieved  through  the  agency  of  our  Home,  let 
us  not  relax  in  our  efforts  to  establish  our  institution 
upon  a  still  more  solid  and  permanent  basis.  So  long 
as  the  existence  of  our  noble  charity  is  likely  to  be 
affected  by  the  vicissitudes  of  the  times  and  the  reverses 
of  individual  fortunes — so  long  as  its  income  is  likely  to 
be  regulated  by  the  "  profit  and  loss "  of  the  commu- 
nity— so  long  as  its  destiny  is  bound  up  with  the  ever- 
shifting  successes  and  failures  of  commercial  enterprise — 
so  long  we  cannot  say  that  it  will  be  equal  to  all  emer- 
gencies, or  certain  of  perpetuity.  It  is  only  then,  when 
a  permanent  fund  shall  have  been  secured  sufficiently 
large  to  cover,  by  its  revenue,  the  greater  portion  of 
our  expenditure,  that  we  can  say,  Our  Home  is  pro- 
tected against  every  storm,  and  able  to  dispense  its 
benefits,  as  heretofore,  without  stint  and  without  inter- 
mission. The  fund  thus  iar  accumulated  is  too  small  to 
insure  the  end  proposed,  and  looks  for  its  gradual  in- 
crease to  our  Anniversary  gatherings.  Shall  it  be  said 
that  the  prevailing  crisis,  harrassing  and  distressing 
though  it  may  be,  should  deter  us,  on  this  occasion, 
from  acting  in  the  spirit  of  our  accustomed  liberality  ? 
The  more  keenly  we  may  feel  the  prostration  of  our  own 
hopes,  the  mora  strongly  should  we  be  impressed  with 
our  duty,  not  to  deceive  the  hopes  of  those  whom  Provi- 
dence has  placed  in  our  charge,  and  who  await  protec- 
tion and  maintenance  at  our  hands. 

Fathers  and  niothers !  you,  around  whose  bosoms  the 
tender  chords  of  parental  affection — those  endearing 
bonds  of  nature's  workmanship — are  lovingly  entwined, 
think,  O  think,  if  your  own  children  (which  our  heavenly 
Father  avert)  were  to  be  left  by  the  inscrutable  designs 
of  Providence  in  the  cold  and  chilly  orphanage  of  life — 
left  to  suffer  the  hunger,  and  the  want,  and  the  destitu- 


—   145  — 

tion,  which,  no  doubt,  many  of  you  in  your  benevolent 
missions  have  painfully  witnessed — left  to  the  fortuitous 
mercy  of  the  world :  would  not  your  souls  glow  with 
gratitude  in  the  realms  of  eternity  towards  the  good 
and  charitable,  who  would  stretch  forth  their  hands  aud 
protect  and  guide  your  offspring  ?  How  know  you,  that 
among  the  little  band  of  our  adopted  children  there  are 
not  some,  whose  infancy  gave  promise  of  as  bright  a 
destiny  as  is  smiling  on  yours  ?  How  know  you,  in  the 
uncertainty  of  all  human  things,  what  may  be  the  lot  of 
the  babes  you  love  ? 

Husbands,  you,  whose  heart  rejoices  in  the  affection 
of  a  beloved  and  loving  wife — who  cherish  her  with'  a 
devotion  that  is  ever  bent  upon  strewing  the  roses  of 
comfort  and  peace  around  her  path,  upon  shielding  her 
tender  nature  against  the  rude  storms  of  adversity — who 
feel  happy  in  the  thought  of  being  near  her,  to  share 
her  joy,  to  chase  away  her  sorrow,  and  to  enable  her  to 
perform  the  duties  of  life  with  a  blissful  and  contented 
serenity — would  you  not  bless  the  hand  extended  to  her 
in  the  dread  hour  of  bereavement  and  trial  ?  Would 
you  not  invoke  a  benediction  upon  the  abode  where,  in 
her  declining  years,  her  wants  would  be  supplied,  and 
the  pangs  of  her  loneliness  be  soothed  by  the  sympathy 
of  kind  and  benevolent  hearts  ? 

Young  men  !  you,  who  have  grown  up  in  the  lap  of 
abundance — whose  infancy  and  childhood  were  the  con- 
stant objects  of  a  father's  kind  solicitude,  of  a  mother's 
tender  care  and  watchfulness — whose  wishes  required  no 
talisman  but  the  expression — who  enjoyed  the  protec- 
tion and  guidance  of  affectionate  parents  to  warn  you 
against  vice  and  inure  you  to  virtue — do  not  your  souls 
glow  with  sympathy  for  those  of  your  fellow-beings, 
who  were  born  like  yourselves,  with  muscles,  and  nerves, 

10 


146  — 

and  hearts,  and  every  capacity  for  suffering,  but  are  be- 
reft of  their  natural  protectors  ? 

Be  ready  then,  to-day,  to  testify  by  your  generous  do- 
nations the  sincerity  of  your  compassion  and  benevolent 
sentiments.  It  is  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  all  of  you 
owe  to  the  Dispenser  of  all  good.  Give  "extension  and 
permanency — and  you  can  do  it — to  our  noble  institu- 
tion. Let  the  generosity  of  your  own  natures  supply 
what  may  be  defective  in  my  appeal.  Cramp  not  the 
benevolent  expansion  of  your  hearts.  Paralyze  not  the 
sublime  impulses  of  your  nature.  Weigh  not  on  the  lin- 
ger of  cold  and  niggard  calculation  the  contributions 
you  are  to  offer.  Let  the  amount  to  be  realized  warrant 
us  in  increasing  our  permanent  fund,  and  thus  afford  an 
additional  guarantee  to  the  stability  and  perpetuity  of 
our  Home. 


XIII. 

ADDRESS 

Delivered  at  the 

FUNERAL  OF  JUDAH  TOURO, 

AT  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 

Friday,  January  2Oth,  1854. 


A  GOOD  man  has  departed ;  a  righteous  Israelite 
has  been  gathered  to  his  fathers.  Judah  Touro  is 
no  more.  His  soul  has  returned  to  God ;  his  earthly  re- 
mains are  about  to  be  borne  to  the  silent  tomb.  He 
reached  the  advanced  age  of  78  years  and  7  months, 
having  been  a  resident  of  this  city  for  52  years. 

The  death  of  the  good  and  benevolent  never  fails  to 
utrike  a  sympathetic  chord  in  the  hearts  of  the  survivors. 
Regret  and  sorrow  at  their  loss  become  manifest.  And 
these  feelings  are  the  more  general,  the  more  deep,  the 
more  earnest — the  wider  the  sphere  in  which  this  good- 
ness was  displayed,  the  broader  the  scale  on  which  this 
benevolence  was  practised.  Among  the  crowd  of  mourners 
assembled  around  this  coffin,  there  is  none  who  is  related 
to  the  deceased  by  ties  of  consanguinity.  Yet,  may  I 
venture  to  assert,  that  many  a  heart  throbs  with  genuine 
grief,  that  many  an  eye  drops  a  genuine  tear,  as  if  la- 
menting the  death  of  a  brother,  the  loss  of  a  father. 


—  150   — 

What  is  it,  that  has  won  for  our  departed  friend  the 
hearts  of  his  fellow-citizens  ?  What  is  it,  that  has 
gained  him  the  love  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him  ? 
What  is  it,  that  has  made  his  name  shed  a  lustre  on  our 
city,  and  caused  it  to  be  pronounced  in  the  most  distant 
sections  of  our  country,  with  an  affectionate  reverence  ? 
It  is  not  the  brilliancy  of  his  mind — for  he  had  no  pre- 
tensions to  learning  or  scholarship  ;  it  is  not  his  political 
influence — for  he  loved  retirement ;  it  is  not  the  splendor 
of  his  establishment — for  he  was  notorious  for  the  simp- 
licity of  his  habits  ;  nor  is  it  even  his  wealth — for  there 
are  many,  who  possess  a  vastly  larger  amount  of  earthly 
substance,  whose  names,  nevertheless,  do  not  emerge 
from  obscurity,  nor  command  the  love  and  esteem  of 
their  contemporaries.  Judah  Touro  is  renowned  and  re- 
spected for  his  broad  philanthropy,  for  his  unprejudiced 
charity.  His  qualities  emanated  directly  from  the  heart, 
and  could  not  fail  to  win  the  heart.  He  was  public- 
spirited  without  parade ;  he  delighted  in  doing  good, 
without  ostentation ;  his  greatest  weakness  was  his  an- 
tipathy to  see  his  name  published  to  the  world  ;  the  con- 
sciousness of  having  done  a  good  action  was  to  him  suffi- 
cient reward. 

I  shall  not,  therefore,  on  this  occasion,  offend  his 
memory,  by  attempting  to  give  a  specific  account  of  the 
extent  of  his  liberality.  Nor  is  it  within  my  power  to 
do  so.  The  hundreds  and  the  thousands  which  he  de- 
voted to  patriotic  objects,  or  to  the  relief  of  general  dis- 
tress, may  be  partially  known — but  who  can  tell  us  the 
amount  of  individual  suffering,  which  his  timely  aid 
alleviated  ?  Who  has  registered  the  names  of  distressed 
widows,  of  forlorn  orphans,  of  destitute  strangers,  that 
were  the  recipients  of  his  bounty  ?  However  lonely  he 
may  have  felt  in  the  declining  years  of  his  pilgrimage  on 
earth,  the  deeds  of  benevolence,  the  friendly  acts  of  kind- 


—  151   — 

ness  which  he  had  noiselessly  performed,  must  have 
clustered  round  his  heart  like  guardian  angels,  shedding 
a  light  on  his  path,  and  pointing  forward  to  a  bright 
future. 

The  philanthropy  of  the  deceased  knew  no  distinction 
of  creed  or  nationality.  He  did  not  confine  his  charity  to 
the  pale  of  his  own  religion.  He  considered  Jew  and 
Gentile  to  have  an  equal  claim  on  him.  Wherever  he 
deemed  his  assistance  well  applied,  he  was  ready  to  render 
it.  Individuals  and  corporations  can  bear  testimony  to 
this  beautiful  trait  in  his  character.  In  his  life  and  ac- 
tions were  exemplified  the  words  of  the  prophet,  "  Have 
we  not  all  one  Father  ?  has  not  one  God  created  us  ? 
why  then  should  we  be  treacherous  one  against  the 
other?" 

But  whilst  rendering  justice  to  his  high  virtues  as  a 
man,  whilst  admiring  his  unimpeachable  integrity,  his 
general  benevolence,  his  unstinted  charity,  the  constancy 
of  his  attachment  to  his  friends,  and  the  uniform  kind- 
ness to  his  servants — we  cannot  pass  by  in  silence  his 
noble  qualities  as  a  citizen.  .Among  the  ranks  of  the 
brave  patriots  who,  in  1814  and  1815  defended  our  city 
against  foreign  invasion,  Judah  Touro  was  to  be  found. 
Nor  did  he  escape  unharmed.  The  effects  of  the  fatal 
ball  that  struck  him,  clung  to  him  for  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  Though  conservative  in  his  views,  he  has  con- 
tributed materially  to  the  improvement  of  the  city,  by 
ornamenting  our  principal  streets  with  some  of  the  finest 
mercantile  edifices,  which  reflect  credit  on  this  Southern 
emporium  of  commerce.  And  truly  may  we  apply  to 
him  the  words  of  Solomon,  "  By  the  blessing  of  the  right- 
eous the  city  is  exalted." 

Within  this  city,  too,  he  has  left  a  lasting  monument 
to  his  munificence  and  his  religious  fervor.  A  descend- 
ant of  Abraham,  a  firm  believer  in  the  One  (Jod,  who  hns 


—  152  — 

created  heaven  and  earth,  who  has  revealed  his  word 
from  amidst  the  thunders  of  Sinai — he  has  founded  and 
endowed  a  Synagogue,  in  which  the  time-hallowed  wor- 
ship of  Israel  is  performed,  in  which  the  Law  is  read  and 
the  Hymns  of  David  are  chaunted  in  their  original  tongue. 
And  thus  the  evening  of  his  life  was  cheered  up  by  the 
delight  and  solace  which  he  derived  from  a  regular  at- 
tendance at  that  place  of  worship,  and  the  solemn  com- 
munion with  his  Maker. 

And  this  good  man  has  passed  away.  No  more  shall 
we  look  on  his  venerable  form ;  no  more  shall  we  receive 
the  hearty  grasp  of  his  hand.  But  his  name  will  not  be 
forgotten,  his  memory  will  be  blessed  by  generations  to 
come.  He  bore  with  fortitude  the  ills  of  his  decline,  and 
prepared  himself  for  the  approaching  end.  And  when  at 
last  his  senses  were  veiled  by  the  shadows  of  death,  and 
all  earthly  objects  had  faded  from  his  view — then 
could  be  plainly  discerned,  from  his  occasional  low  mur- 
murings,  the  repeated  prayerful  ejaculations,  "Oh  God," 
"  Holy  Father !" — indicating  his  firm  trust  in  God,  hi* 
hope  in  a  blissful  immortality. 


XIV. 

ADDRESS 

Delivered  at  the 

FUNERAL  OF  JUDAH  TOURO, 

AT  NEWPORT,    B.  T. 

Tuesday,  June  7th,  1854. 


FULL  seventy-nine  years  have  elapsed — two  genera- 
tions have  since  passed  away — when,  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  this  town,  Judah  Touro  was  ushered  into  life. 
Like  his  ancestor  Jacob,  he  took  the  pilgrim-staff  in 
hand — from  the  North  he  travelled  to  the  then  dis- 
tant South.  Like  the  patriarch,  the  Lord  was  with 
him  and  prospered  his  ways ;  like  the  patriarch,  it  was 
bis  last  injunction,  "  When  I  shall  sleep  with  my  fathers, 
then  carry  me  away  and  bury  me  in  their  burying- 
pbice."  To-day,  therefore,  we  are  gathered  round  the 
bier  of  the  departed,  and  are  about  to  conduct  his  earthly 
remains  to  their  final  resting-place,  that  they  may  sleep 
side  by  side  with  the  ashes  of  long  departed  kindred. 

The  life  of  Judah  Touro  is  marked  by  none  of  those 
brilliant  achievements,  by  none  of  those  dazzlingly  strik- 
ing incidents,  which  are  generally  considered  to  consti- 
tute human  greatness.  His  'word  never  marshalled  into 
battle  array,  and  led  to  victory  the  hosts  of  his  country- 
men; his  voice  resounded  not  in  the  halls  of  legislation, 


—  156  — 

nor  had  he  the  gift,  "  the  applause  of  listening  Senates 
to  command."  But  in  all  that  is  truly  honorable,  and 
generous,  and  noble,  he  was  foremost  among  the  fore- 
most. His  heart  was  instinct  with  that  true  benevolence, 
which  forces  the  tear  of  sympathy  into  the  eye,  and  opens 
the  hand  to  succor  and  to  relieve.  A  sublime  goodness 
characterized  his  actions,  an  exalted  virtue  adorned  his 
life.  The  warm  impulses  of  a  generous  soul  gushed  forth 
from  nature's  purest  fountain. 

His  charity,  like  his  friendship,  knew  of  neither  sec- 
tional nor  sectarian  boundaries.  The  catholicity  of  the 
one  was  equalled  by  the  constancy  of  the  other.  Modest 
and  unpretending,  meek  and  humble,  even  to  a  fault,  he 
delighted  in  going  good  in  secret,  and  felt  happy  in  the 
consciousness  of  being  the  unknown  cause  of  the  happi- 
ness of  others. 

And  to  these  virtues  and  principles  he  remained  true 
to  the  end  of  his  days.  Years  will  roll  on — another 
generation  will  succeed  us — many  a  name,  now  shining 
in  the  meridian  of  its  glory,  will  be  forgotten  ;  yet  the 
name  and  memory  of  Judah  Touro  will  ever  live  in  the 
hearts  of  posterity.  Through  the  length  and  breadth  of 
this  country,  the  name  of  this  philanthropist  will  ever  be 
coupled  with  the  beautiful  words  of  Scripture,  "  The 
memory  of  the  just  will  be  for  a  blessing." 

Yes,  my  friends,  the  memory  of  the  deceased  will  ever 
be  blessed.  Whether  we  consider  his  character  as  a 
man,  as  a  citizen,  or  as  an  Israelite,  it  equally  claims  our 
admiration,  our  affectionate  regard.  Through  his  muni- 
ficient  bequests,  so  liberally  and  so  judiciously  distrib- 
uted, he  has  erected  to  himself  numerous  monuments, 
more  durable  than  moulded  bronze  or  chiselled  marble, 
which  the  gratitude  of  others  may  raise.  The  religious 
and  educational  seminaries,  the  asylums  for  the  poor  and 
suffering — which  he  has  either  established  or  endowed — 


—  157  — 

for  the  ennobling  of  the  heart,  the  improvement  of  the 
mind,  and  the  alleviation  of  distress,  are  bright  evidences 
of  the  deep  interest  he  felt  for  all  that  tends  to  ameliorate 
the  moral  and  physical  condition  of  man.  The-Touro 
Infirmary,  the  Touro  Almshouse,  the  Synagogue,  founded 
by  the  deceased  in  that  Southern  metropolis,  which  had 
been  his  constant  residence  for  more  than  half  a  century  ; 
the  Touro  Tablets,  which  will  decorate  the  walls  of  many 
a  hospital,  asylum,  school  and  sacred  place  of  worship 
throughout  this  country,  will  ever  bear  witness  to  those 
heavenly  feelings  of  benevolence  and  philanthropy,  which 
animated  his  good  and  pious  soul. 

"  The  fruit  of  the  just  is  a  tree  of  life."  Such  a  tree 
of  life,  affording  shade  and  shelter  to  many  a  weary  pil- 
grim, has  been  planted  by  the  deceased. 

Are  we,  then,  met  to  grieve  at  his  death  ?  Not,  cer- 
tainly, for  the  sake  of  the  departed.  He  had  passed  the 
ordinary  goal ;  he  had  fulfilled  his-  great  mission  and  was 
waiting  for  his  recall.  Sensible  of  the  approach  of  his 
end,  convinced  of  a  happy  immortality,  death  was  to  him 
the  commencement  of  a  higher  life — an  admission  to  the 
benign  presence  of  his  Father,  who  is  also  our  Father — 
of  his  God,  who  is  also  our  God. 

Shall  we  mourn  the  loss  we  have  sustained  ?  Time 
mellows  and  corrects  our  feelings.  The  predominant 
emotion  of  my  bosom  is,  profound  gratitude  to  heaven 
for  giving  us  such  a  man,  and  sparing  him  so  long.  I 
lose  my  regret  that  he  is  dead,  in  my  deep  joy,  that  he 
has  lived.  And  this  I  believe  to  be  the  general  senti- 
ment of  his  brethren  and  friends,  of  the  trustees  and  re- 
cipients of  his  bounty.  The  priceless  value  of  such  a 
man  is  thus  best  appreciated.  In  the  contemplation  of 
his  life  we  should  become  profoundly  and  solemnly  im- 
pressed with  a  conviction  of  the  infinite  importance, 
which  may  be  given  to  the  life  of  man  on  earth  by  a 


—  158  — 

beautiful  and  conscientious  devotion,  of  all  the  means  at 
command,  to  the  nurture  and  development  of  the  soul's 
highest  faculties,  to  the  culture  and  manifestation  of  the 
soul's  purest  affectioiis. 

This  occasion,  then,  is  not  one  of  exclusive  mourning, 
for  the  sake  of  either  the  dead  or  the  living,  but  rather 
one  for  the  expression  of  fervent  gratitude  for  the  precious 
example  of  such  a  life  and  death,  for  the  lessons  of  true 
wisdom  it  is  designed  to  teach,  and  for  the  devout  and 
lofty  aspirations,  which  it  should  excite.  In  this  spiiit 
let  it  be  improved  by  us  ;  in  this  spirit  let  us  raise  our 
hearts  in  prayer  to  our  Creator  and  heavenly  Protector. 


XV. 

ADDRESS 

Delivered  at  the  Dedication  of  the 

TOMB  OF  THE  HOWARD  ASSOCIATION 

OF  NEW  ORLEANS, 

AND    THE    TRANSFER    OF   THE    REMAINS    OF   ITS    PRESIDENT 

VICTOR  BOULLEMET, 
Sunday,  April  15th,   I860. 


YOU  are  assembled  here,  to  perform  a  solemn  cere- 
mony, a  self-imposed  duty.  You  are  about  to  re- 
move from  their  temporary  vault  the  cheiished  remains 
of  a  co-laborer  in  your  work  of  charity  and  benevolence, 
and  deposit  them  in  the  newly-erected  tomb,  which  bears 
the  name  of  the  immortal  philanthropist,  whose  sublime 
example  you  have  chosen  for  your  guide.  The  act,  in 
which  you  are  engaged,  is  no  vain  ovation  to  the  living, 
but  a  sincere  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  departed 
worth.  It  is  an  illustration  of  the  fact,  that  associations 
like  yours,  formed  for  purposes  of  pure  benevolence,  serve 
to  keep  alive  and  active  the  kindly  sensibilities  of  the 
heart,  by  inducing  an  observance  of  the  tender  and 
humane  duties  which  ennoble  our  nature. 

Nearly  four  years  have  elapsed,  since  we  were  engaged 
in  solemnizing  the  sad  funeral  rites  on  the  mortal  re- 
mains of  Virgil  Boullemet,  your  late  lamented  president. 
Cut  off,  as  he  was,  in  the  prime  of  life,  by  a  disease 
which  he  contracted  in  the  active  paths  of  his  humane 

11 


—  162   — 

exertions,  his  death  was  one  of  those  mysterious  and  dark 
dispensations  of  that  Providence  "  whose  ways  are  not 
as  man's  ways  " — a  dispensation  which,  bringing  home  to 
the  most  careless,  the  sense  of  the  frail  tenure  of  life, 
awes  the  mind  into  stillness  and  solemnity.  But  severely 
as  the  blow  must  have  been  felt  by  the  dearer  friends  of  his 
own  family,  the  sorrow  of  others  for  the  loss  ol  a  virtuous 
man,  whose  life  had  been  ardently  devoted  to  the  service 
of  humanity,  to  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the 
sick  and  the  needy,  has  in  it  little  of  bitterness.  It  is 
sad,  and  solmen,  and  calm,  and  durable. 

The  deceased  requires  no  studied  eulogy,  no  ostenta- 
tious panegyric  at  my  hands.  You,  his  fellow-laborers, 
who  have  been  both  witnesses  and  sharers  of  his  labors 
of  love,  will  coincide  with  me,  when  I  say  that  his  eulogy 
is  written  in  the  hearts  of  thousands  yet  living,  to  whom 
he  proved,  under  Providence,  "  an  angel  of  mercy  that 
bore  healing  on  his  wings,"  whilst  thousands,  whose 
pains  he  was  instrumental  in  soothing,  but  whose  lives 
he  was  unable  to  save,  pronounced  with  their  last  breaths 
the  most  effective  panegyric  before  the  very  throne  of  the 
Eternal. 

You  are  surrounded  by  the  emblems  of  death.  Within 
these  vaults  sleep  many  of  those,  who  were  dear  to  you 
in  life,  with  whom  you  exchanged  a  friendly  grasp,  whom 
you  warmly  pressed  to  your  bosom.  The  light  of  their 
eyes  once  beaming  intelligence  and  love,  is  quenched  ; 
their  hearts  have  ceased  to  beat ;  their  noble  forms,  once 
instinct  with  manly  vigor  or  melting  beauty,  have 
mouldered  to  dust.  But  above  us  there  shineth  forth  the 
bright  orb  of  day,  and  the  blue  arch  of  heaven  is  stretched 
out  in  immeasurable  expanse,  suggesting  the  idea  of  in- 
finitude-, of  eternity.  And  whilst  daily  experience 
teaches  us  that  sad  lesson,  that  "in  the  midst  of  life  we 
are  in  death,"  the  voice  of  nature,  which  is  also  the  voice 


—  163  — 

God,  strikes  "the  consoling  conviction  into  our  hearts, 
that  from  the  midst  of  death  we  look  forward  to  life 
eternal,  to  immortality. 

"  The  Koul,  secured  in  her  existence,  smiles 
At  the  drawn  dagger,  and  defies  its  point  ; 
The  stars  shall  fade  away,  the  sun  himself 
Grow  dim  with  age,  and  nature  sink  in  years, 
But  thou  shall  flourish  in  immortal  youth,  • 

Unhurt  amidst  the  war  of  elements, 
The  wreck  of  matter,  and  the  crash  of  worlds." 

To  erect  tombs,  where  the  temple  of  clay  once  tenant- 
ed by  the  immortal  foul,  is  to  be  enshrined,  is  a  noble 
custom.  It  is  in  consonance  with  the  deepest  feelings  of 
human  nature.  These  tombs  become  sacred  shrines, 
where  not  only  the  names  of  the  departed  are  snatched 
from  oblivion,  but  where  their  virtues  and  generous  deeds 
are  remembered  for  good.  Many  a  weary  pilgrim,  whose 
stops  will  be  arrested  on  passing  this  spot,  and  reading 
the  noble  name  engrossed  upon  this  tomb,  will  speak 
with  the  poet  : 

"  Peace  to  the  good  man's  memory, — let  it  grow 
Greener  with  years,  and  blossom  thro'  the  flight  of  ages  ; 

Let  the  light 

Stream  on  his  deeds  of  love,  that  shunned  the  sight 
Of  all  but  Heaven,  and  in  the  book  of  fame 
The  glorious  record  of  his  virtues  write, 
And  hold  it  up  to  men,  and  bid  them  claim 
A  palm  like  his,  and  catch  from  him  the  hallowed  flame." 


XVI. 

ADDRESS      - 

Delivered  at  the 

FUNERAL   OF  JOSEPH   FATMAN, 

AT  NEW  YORK, 

Sunday,  October  lOth   1869. 


A  GOOD  MAN  has  departed ;  a  righteous  Israelite 
has  been  gathered  to  his  fathers.     Joseph  Fatman 
is  no  more.     His  soul  has  returned  to  God ;  his  earthly 
remains  are  about  to  be  borne  to  the  silent  tomb. 

How  solemn  are  the  reflections  that  arise  in  o-ir  minds, 
in  performing  the  last  sad  office  of  love,  which  the  living 
may  minister  to  the  dead,  how  serious  the  lesson  thus 
afforded  !  The  teeling  of  our  nothingness,  of  our  frailty, 
of  the  precarious  tenure  of  life,  and  the  certainty  of  death, 
strikes  our  soul  with  overpowering  conviction  ;  and 
prayerfully  we  look  up  to  him,  who  is  the  source  of  eter- 
nal life,  upon  whom  we  are  dependent,  and  in  whom  we 
trust  in  life  and  in  death.  But  amidst  these  solemn  emo- 
tions, our  memory  involuntarily  reverts  to  the  lamented 
departed,  and  we  can  scarcely  realize  the  fact,  that  he 
has  been  called  away  from  his  work  on  earth  "  to  that 
eternal  bourne  from  whence  no  traveller  returns." 

"  Man  is  but  a  pilgrim  here  below."     Such  is  the  lang- 
guage  of  Holy  Scripture,  such  the  expression  that  so  fre- 


—  168  — 

• 

quently  greets  our  ear,  when  the  career  of  an  earthly 
pilgrimage  is  closed  in  death.  This  aphorism  is  no  figure 
of  speech,  but  an  incontrovertible  truth,  a  stern  reality. 
We  may  ignore  it  amidst  the  struggling  activities  and 
diversified  pursuits  of  life ;  we  may  strive  ami  work, 
labor  and  toil,  plant  and  build,  as  if  the  earth  were  our 
eternal  home,  yet  the  hour  will  come,  sooner  or  later,  that 
will  call  us  from  our  task,  and  force  us  to  relinquish  our 
post.  In  that  hour,  when  our  account  with  earth  is  settled, 
the  value  of  our  life  is  not  measured  by  our  worldly  success 
and  possessions,  but  by  our  exertions  for  the  good  of 
others,  for  the  amelioration  of  the  suffering,  and  the  pro- 
motion of  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  our  fellow- 
mortals. 

Measured  by  this  standard,  the  life  of  the  deceased 
assumes  a  high  value.  Engaged  in  commercial  pursuits, 
which  but  too  often  cramp  the  kindlier  impulses  of  human 
nature,  he  achieved  success  without  sacrificing  the  good 
will  and  kindly  regards  of  his 'neighbors,  while  his  heart 
remained  instinct  with  that  true  benevolence  which 
prompts  the  active  deed.  If  any  evidence  of  the  genuine 
worth  of  the  private  and  public  virtues  of  our  departed 
friend  were  needed,  it  is  amply  furnished  by  this  large 
gathering  of  mourning  friends,  who,  in  his  demise,  de- 
plore the  loss  of  a  good,  honorable  man,  of  a  zealous 
laborer  in  the  cause  of  charity.  The  goodness  of  his  soul 
was  not  confined  to  the  narrow  sphere  of  home,  but  was 
cheerfully  exerted  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow-mortals  at 
large.  The  noble  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  with  which 
God  had  blessed  him,  were  not  suffered  to  congeal  by 
selfishness,  but  warmed  into  life  and  deeds  of  benevolence 
and  love.  On  the  memorial-tablets  of  those  sacred  insti 
tutions  of  humanity,  that  are  flourishing  in  our  midst, 
the  name  of  Joseph  Fatuxan  will  ever  occupy  an  honor- 
able place.  The  Mount  Sinai  Hospital,  and  the  Hebrew 


—  169  — 

Orphan  Asylum  have  been  principally  benefited,  not 
only  by  his  munificent  contributions,  but  by  his  personal 
attention  and  labors  ;  and  many  an  hour  he  snatched 
from  the  enjoyments  of  home  and  business  pursuits,  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  those  institutions.  And  thus  cut 
off  in  the  maturity  of  manhood,  the  deceased  has  not  lived 
in  vain.  And  although  the  highest  term  of  human  age 
was  not  vouchsafed  to  him — although  he  was  not  spared 
to  enjoy  a  season  of  rest,  of  recreation,  of  undisturbed 
enjoyment  of  life's  blessings  in  life's  tranquil  evening 
hours,  yet  welcome  and  promising  must  be  to  him  the 
dawn  of  eternal  life,  since  his  earthly  career  closed  upon 
a  useful  activity,  and  the  palm  of  approbation  and  love 
of  all  who  knew  him,  will  decorate  his  peaceful  grave. 

But  whilst  deeply  deploring  the  loss  which  our  com- 
munity has  sustained  in  the  death  of  so  good  and  charit- 
able a  man,  I  shrink  from  intruding  upon  the  sacred 
privacy  of  grief,  which  this  bereavement  has  inflicted 
upon  the  immediate  family  of  the  lamented  deceased. 
Yet,  can  we  forbear  expressing  our  sympathy  for,  and 
mingling  our  tears  with  the  tears  of  the  sorrow-stricken 
widow,  who  has  lost  the  companion  of  her  youth,  the  pro- 
tector and  solace  of  her  declining  age  ?  Can  we  forbear 
feeling  a  sympathy  for,  and  mingling  our  tears  with  the 
tears  of  the  sorrowing  children,  who  mourn  the  loss  of  an 
affectionate  and  devoted  father  ?  On  these  profoundly 
solemn  occasions,  when  the  perishableness  of  our  earthly 
existence  strikes  our  hearts  with  irresistible  force,  when 
oxir  horizon  is  shrouded  in  darkness  and  gloom,  we  look  up 
to  God,  and  derive  comfort  and  courage  from  our  faith  in 
his  eternal  goodness  and  mercy.  The  conviction  that  our 
soul  is  immortal,  the  hope  that  we  shall  one  day  be  re- 
united with  those  who  were  dear  to  us  on  earth,  must 
exercise  a  soothing  influence  on  our  grief,  and  cause  the 
mourner  to  submit  with  resignation  to  the  will  of  Provi- 


—  170  — 

dence.  On  the  earthly  form  of  the  departed  we  cast  a 
last,  loving,  lingering  look,  but  his  spirit  has  returned  to 
his  God,  into  the  realm  of  eternal  life  and  bliss  ;  the  seeds 
of  love  and  of  virtue,  which  he  has  sown  in  the  hearts  of 
his  children,  will  bear  ennobling  fruit  and  immortalize 
his  name  and  his  lineage,  while  his  deeds  of  benevolence 
and  charity,  and  his  memory,  will  be  for  a  blessing. 


XVII. 

OPENING  PRAYER 

Delivered  at  the  Semi-Centennial  Anniversary 


OP   THE 


Hebrew  Benevolent  and  Orphan  Asylum  Society 

OF  NEW  YORK, 

Thursday,  April  Nth,  1872. 


A  LMIGHTY  GOD  !  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth  ! 
-£*-  Father  of  all  mankind  ! — With  a  deep  sense  of  our 
dependence  upon  Thy  loving  kindness,  we  approach  Thee 
on  this  festive  and  gratifying  occasion,  and  bless  Thy 
Holy  Name.  Thou  art  our  Everlasting  Shield  and 
Heavenly  Protector ;  "  with  Thee  is  the  source  of  life  ;" 
from  the  fount  of  Thy  revelation  do  we  derive  light ;  and 
by  Thy  infinite  mercy  are  we  sustained. 

Allkind  Father  ! — Love  is  the  effulgence  of  Thy  glory ; 
love  is  the  eternal  pillar  that  supporteth  the  universe  ; 
the  mysterious  link  that  holds  in  unison  worlds  without 
end  ;  the  heavenly  tie  that  binds  Thy  children  to  Thee, 
that  unites  and  fraternizes  the  sons  of  man. 

Omnipotent  God  !  Thou  commandest — and  spheres 
spring  into  existence ;  Thou  speakest — and  life  throba 
through  the  pulses  of  creation.  The  eyes  of  all  hopefully 
wait  upon  Thee ;  for  Thou  openest  Thy  hand  and  pro- 
videst  for  all  living  beings,  and  Thy  mercy  extendeth 
over  all  Thy  works.  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord,  our  God, 


—  174  — ' 

who  hast  preserved  us  alive  and  sustained  us  in  health,  to 
participate  in  this  jubilee  of  charity. 

We  thank  Thee,  O  God,  for  the  protection  which  Thou 
hast  extended  towards  our  Society.  Small  was  its  be- 
ginning, but  its  sphere  has  wonderfully  increased  in  ex- 
tent and  in  usefulness.  Devoted  originally  to  the  inci- 
dental relief  of  the  poor  and  needy,  it  has  established  a 
home  for  the  homeless,  where  the  tears  of  the  orphan  are 
dried,  and  helpless  innocence  finds  comfort  and  protec- 
tion. The  tree,  planted' fifty  years  ago  by  the  hand  of 
charity  in  the  soil  of  humanity,  now  affords  a  grateful 
shade  to  those  who  are  sheltered  under  its  branches. 

Guide  and  strengthen  us,  O  God,  in  the  direction  of 
our  efforts  to  alleviate,  in  some  degree,  the  distresses  that 
are  incident  to  human  life.  May  Thy  blessing  rest  upon 
the  Asylum  and  upon  all  those  that  have  found,  and  "are 
yet  destined  to  find  shelter  under  its  roof.  May  har- 
mony, kindness  and  love  link  together  all  its  children  as 
members  of  one  family — and  virtue  and  piety  be  their 
portion  of  inheritance,  their  inalienable  guides  through 
life. 

And  we  beseech  Thee,  O  God,  to  bless  the  officers, 
patrons  and  members  of  the  Society,  and  all  those  who 
have  nobly  contributed,  and  those  who  will  hereafter 
contribute  towards  its  support.  May  their  generous  zeal 
continue  unabated,  and  warm  hearts  and  liberal  hands  at 
all  times  be  ready  to  aid  in  the  prosecution  of  so  sacred  a 
cause.  What  greater  happiness  can  there  be  for  man 
than  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  his  fellow-man,  to 
render  cheerful  the  otherwise  gloomy  lot  of  the  widow  and 
the  fatherless  !  Reward,  we  pray  Thee,  the  sacrifices 
made  in  behalf  of  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  and  Orphan 
Asylum  Society  in  the  plenitude  of  Thy  grace  ! 

This  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  institution  must  needs 
reminds  us  of  the  transitoriness  of  human  life.     Its  found 


—  175  — 

ers  and  many  of  its  members  have  returned  to  their 
eternal  home,  to  reap  the  reward  of  their  good  deeds 
done  upon  earth — and  we  bless  their  memory  in  this 
solemn  hour.  Grant,  O  God,  that  the  living  patrons, 
members  and  supporters,  be  long  spared  in  health  and 
prosperity  to  witness  and  enjoy  the  happy  results  attained 
by  their  sacrifices  and  well-directed  charitable  efforts. 

Continue,  O  God,  Thy  heavenly  protection  over  our 
beloved  country.  May  it  increase  in  renown,  in  prosper- 
ity and  in  virtue.  May  peace,  harmony  and  obedience 
to  law  prevail  among  the  people,  and  the  various  sections 
ever  be  closely  united  by  the  bonds  of  true  patriotism 
and  brotherly  love. 

Bless,  O  Father,  all  those  here  assembled.  May  the 
occasion  not  pass  by  without  a  salutary  effect,  but  .be 
conducive  to  the  steady  cultivation  and  development  of 
the  blissful  feelings  of  benevolence  and  philanthropy  in 
thought,  in  word,  and  in  deed. 

And  may  the  grace  of  the  Lord,  our  God,  be  upon  us  ; 
and  the  work  of  our  hand  be  firmly  established  upon  us  ; 
yea,  the  work  of  our  hand  do  Thou  firmly  establish  it, 
whom  we  adore  as  our  God  and  our  Father  for  evermore. 
Amen. 


